!• 


I TIIEOLCGICAL  SEMINARY.! 


I]     Princeton,  N.  J.  !| 


BR  742  .N7  1849 

Noel,  Baptist  Wriothesley, 

1798-1873. 
Essay  on  the  union  of  church 


K. 


^yU^i'l^^i^-'^ 


ESSAY 


UNION  OF   CHURCH  AND   STATE, 


BY 

/ 


BAPTIST  WRIOTHESLEY  J^OEL,  M.A. 


^Alr]devovTeg  kv  uydirrj. — Eph.,  iv.,  15. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER   &   BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 

82    CLIFF    ST  REE  T. 

1849. 


^ 

P2 

?, 

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Sr 

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1 

PREFACE. 


As  in  the  following  work  I  have  frankly  attacked 
the   union   between  the  Church  and  State,   I  feel 
constrained   to  bear  my  humble  testimony  to  the 
piety  and  worth  of  many  who  uphold  it.     I  have 
stated  without  reserve  the  influence  of  the  system 
upon  prelates;   but  how  many  instances  occur    in 
which  men  raised  to  the  most  ensnaring  honors  have 
successfully  resisted  their  temptations !      Of  those 
prelates  with  whom  I  have  the   honor   to   be   ac- 
quainted, some  I  admire  for  their  simplicity,  benev- 
olence,   and    liberality,    and    others   still   more    for 
eminent  piety.      Most   wisely   in   many   instances, 
and  most  conscientiously  I  doubt  not  in  all,  have 
the  present  government  administered  their  ecclesias- 
tical patronage. 

Still  more  anxious  am  I  to  do  justice  to  my  be- 
loved and  honored  brethren,  the  evangelical  ministers 
of  the  Establishment.  Having  acted  with  them  for 
many  years,  I  can  speak  of  their  principles  with 
Bonfidence.  Numbers  of  them,  whose  names  I 
should  rejoice  to  mention  here  with  honor,  are  as 


vi  PREFACE. 

sincere  in  adhering  to  the  Establishment  as  I  wish 
to  be  in  quitting  it.  Of  many  of  them  I  am  con- 
vinced that  they  surpass  me  in  devotedness  to 
Christ.  "Worthy  successors  of  Romaine  and  John 
Venn,  of  Newton,  Cecil,  and  Thomas  Scott,  of  Rob- 
inson and  of  Simeon,  I  hope  that,  remaining  consci- 
entiously in  the  Establishment,  they  will  have  the 
respect  and  affection  of  all  good  men.  May  they 
enjoy  increasing  comfort  and  usefulness  to  the  end 
of  their  ministry  !  While  I  condemn  a  State  pre- 
lacy, I  honor  each  pious  prelate ;  while  I  mourn 
the  relations  of  godly  pastors  to  the  State,  I  no  less 
rejoice  in  their  godliness.  The  reasons  for  separa- 
tion appear  to  me  clear  ;  but  I  do  not  expect  others 
to  think  as  I  do.  In  claiming  my  own  liberty  of 
judgment,  I  learn  to  respect  theirs.  To  remain  in 
the  Establishment  with  my  views  would  be  criminal, 
with  theirs  it  is  a  duty. 

If  by  any  of  my  expressions  I  have  unnecessarily 
wounded  the  feelings  of  any  Christian  brother,  I 
ask  him  to  forgive  me.  If  I  have  unconsciously 
fallen  into  any  exaggeration,  I  deeply  deplore  it. 
Throughout  the  work  I  have  made  a  clear  distinction 
between  evangelical  and  unevangelical  clergymen ; 
between  those  who  preach  the  Gospel  and  those 
who  do  not  preach  it.  No  spurious  liberality,  no 
fear  of  censure,  should  obliterate  the  distinction ; 
yet  many,  doubtless,  who  are  not  ranked  among 
the   evangelical  party,   who   do   not  support  their 


PREFACE.  vii 

institutions,  and  who  do  not  usually  act  with  them, 
may  be  converted  and  faithful  ministers  of  Christ. 

Lastly,  I  must  express  my  regret  that  I  have 
not  done  more  for  the  welfare  of  a  friendly,  consid- 
erate, and  willing  Church,  to  which  I  have  been  for 
twenty-two  years  a  pastor,  and  with  whom  I  hoped 
to  have  spent  the  remainder  of  my  days.  Sterner 
duties  which  the  study  of  the  word  of  God  has 
forced  upon  my  attention  have  to  be  fulfilled.  But 
I  can  not  quit  them  without  earnest  prayer  that 
my  successor  may  receive  much  grace  to  build  them 
up  in  piety,  nor  without  my  grateful  thanks  for 
their  abundant  and  unvarying  kindness. 

HoRNSEY,  Dec.  14,  1848. 


Note. — I  am  sorry  to  discover  various  repetitions  in  the  work, 
arising  from  the  want  of  leisure  for  revision  :  if  it  reaches  a  second 
edition  they  shall  be  removed. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

PAQB 

The  Lawfulness  of  the  Union  between  Church  and  State  must 

be  determined  by  reference  to  the  Word  of  God 13 

Definition  of  the  terms,  Church,  State,  and  Union 

PAKT  I. 

PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  UNION  BETWEEN  THE  CHURCH 
AND  THE  STATE. 

CHAPTER  I. 

General  Considerations  which  condemn  the  Union. 
Sect.  I.— The  Union  condemned  by  the   Constitution  of  the 

State  

Sect.  II.— The  Union  condemned  by  the  Parental  Relation. .  .      30 

Sect.  III.— The  Union  condemned  by  History 33 

Sect.  IV.— The  Union  condemned  by  the  Mosaic  Law 72 

Sect.  V.— The  Union  condemned  by  the  Prophecies  of  the  Old 

Testament 

Sect.  YI.— The  Union  condemned  by  the  New  Testament  ...      86 

CHAPTER  II. 

Principles  of  the  Union  between  the  Church  and  State  in  England 
condemned  by  the  Word  of  God. 

Sect.  I.— Maintenance  of  Christian  Pastors  by  the  State m 

Sect.  II.— The  Supremacy  of  the  State 

Sect.  III.— Patronage ^^^ 

Sect.  IV. — Coercion 

A* 


X  CONTENTS. 

PART  11. 

EFFECTS  OF   THE  UNION. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Influence  of  the  Union  upon  Persons. 

PAGR 

Sect.  I. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  Bishops 187 

Sect.  IL — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  Pastors 198 

Sect.  III. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  Curates 223 

Sect.  IV. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  Members  of  Anglican 

Churches 229 

Sect.  V. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  Dissenters 236 

CHAPTER  II. 

Influence  of  the  Union  upon  Things. 

Sect.  I. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Number  of  Ministers   244 

Sect.  II. — Influence   of  the  Union  upon   the  Distribution  of 

Ministers 253 

Sect.  III. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Maintenance  of 

Ministers 281 

Sect.  IV. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Doctrine  taught  in 

the  Anglican  Churches 297 

Sect.  V. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Discipline  of  the 

Anglican  Churches 325 

Sect.  VI. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Evangelization  of 

the  Country 374 

Sect.  VII. — ^Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Union  of  Chris- 
tians      380 

Sect.  VIII. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Reformation  of 

the  Churches 388 

Sect.  IX. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Pi'ogress  of  Relig- 
ion in  the  Country 395 

Sect.  X. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Government 406 

Sect.  XI. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  other  National  Estab- 
lishments throughout  the  World 416 


CONTENTS. 


PART  III. 

MEANS  OF  PROMOTING  A  REVIVAL   OF  RELIGION  IN 
THE  COUNTRY. 

PAGE 

Sect.  I. — Means  of  Revival  in  the  Churches 422 

Sect.  II. — Means  for  the  Extension  of  Religion  throughout  the 

Country 433 

Conclusion 440 


INTEODUCTION. 


In  his  great  mercy  to  our  fallen  race,  God  has  given  us 
a  complete  revelation  of  his  vvdll.  By  the  voice  of  Christ, 
and  by  evangelists  and  apostles,  as  well  as  by  ancient 
prophets,  he  has  made  known  to  us  all  our  duty  to  him 
and  to  each  other.  In  the  examination,  therefore,  of  every 
question  of  right  and  wrong,  our  first  step  toward  a  just 
conclusion  must  be  to  learn  what  he  has  said.  When  the 
three  apostles  were  enshrined  with  our  Lord  in  glory  on 
the  mount  of  transfiguration,  they  heard  from  the  depth  of 
the  oppressive  splendor  these  words^  "  This  is  my  beloved 
Son;  hear  him.''  On  every  subject  we  must  hear  him 
first,  be  guided  by  his  judgments,  and  obey  his  decisions. 
To  neglect  to  hear  him  is  to  expose  ourselves  to  a  reckoning 
from  which  the  boldest  may  well  shrink.  For  when  the 
Almighty  promised  to  raise  up  Christ  as  a  prophet  to  liis 
church,  he  added,  "  Whosoever  shall  not  hearke7i  to  my 
tvords,  ivhich  he  sliall  speak  in  my  name,  I  will  require 
it  of  him^^  To  hear  his  commands  and  to  disobey  them 
is  as  fatal  as  to  refuse  to  hear  them,  rendering  vaui  every 
profession  of  discipleship,  and  subverting  every  hope  of  final 
happiness  ;  for  Christ  has  said,  "  Every  one  that  heareth 
these  sayings  of  mine,  and  doeth  them  not,  shall  be  likened 
unto  a  foolish  man,  which  built  his  house  upon  the  sand  ; 
and  the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods  came,  and  the  vdnds 
blew,  and  beat  upon  that  house  ;  and  it  fell ;  and  great 
was  the  fall  of  it."^  Those  only  can  be  blessed  who  trem- 
ble at  the  word  of  God.^  Those  only  love  Christ  who  keep 
his  commands.^  It  is  vain  to  say  to  him,  Lord,  Lord,  un- 
less we  do  his  will  f  and  while  a  willful  ignorance  of  his 

^  Deut.  xviii.  18,  19.         ^  jyfatt.  vii.  26.         ^  Isaiah  Ixvi.  2. 
*  John  xiv.  21.  ^  Luke  vi.  46. 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

will  is  fatal/  to  disobey  it  when  known  is  still  more  crim- 
inal.^ 

These  statements  must  of  course  apply  to  the  union  of 
Christian  churches  with  the  governments  of  nations.  The 
independence  of  the  churches  on  the  one  hand,  or  their 
association  with  governments  on  the  other,  must  exercise 
so  important  an  influence  upon  the  progress  of  religion  both 
within  the  churches,  and  around  them,  that  we  might  ex- 
pect to  find  some  directions  in  this  matter  afforded  by  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  if  there  be  such,  we  must  be  guided  wholly  by 
them.  No  consideration  of  what  is  supposed  to  be  natural, 
no  precedent,  ancient  or  modern,  no  views  of  expediency, 
no  allegations  of  general  custom,  no  appeal  to  the  law  of 
the  land,  must  be  heard.  If  Christ  has  spoken,  this  must 
determine  the  judgment  of  every  one  of  his  sincere  disciples. 
Each  writer  upon  the  union  between  Church  and  State  has 
more  or  less  explicitly  owned  this.  Some  avow  it  with 
greater  frankness  than  others,  render  it  more  prominent  in 
their  reasonings,  argue  it  with  greater  zeal,  and  recur  to  it 
more  frequently ;  but  all  admit  it.  Hooker,  who  made  but 
little  use  of  this  rule,  distinctly  recognized  it,  thus  :  "  Bet- 
ter it  were  to  be  superstitious  than  profane — to  take  from 
thence  (the  Scriptures)  our  direction  even  in  all  things, 
great  and  small,  than  to  wade  through  matters  of  principal 
weight  and  moment  without  ever  caring  what  the  law  of 

God  hath  either  for  or  against  our  designs Did  they 

(the  heathen)  make  so  much  account  of  the  voice  of  their 
gods,  which  in  truth  were  no  gods,  and  shall  we  neglect 
the  precious  benefit  of  conference  with  those  oracles  of  the 
true  and  living  God  ?  .  .  .  .  Use  we  the  precious  gifts  of 
God  unto  his  glory  and  honor  that  gave  them,  seeking  by 
all  means  to  know  what  the  will  of  our  God  is  ;  what 
righteousness  before  him  ;  in  his  sight  what  holy,  perfect, 
and  good  ;  that  we  may  truly  and  faithfully  do  it."^  Mr. 
Gladstone  has  thus  stated  it :  "I  submit  that  the  most 
authentic,  the  most  conclusive,  the  most  philosophical,  and, 
in  the  absence  of  literal  and  undisputed  precept  from  Scrip- 

'  John  xvii.  3;  iii.  19,  20.  "  Luke  xii.  47,  48. 

3  Hooker's  ''  Polity,"  book  i. 


THE  WORD  OF  GOD  OUR  GUIDE.  15 

ture,  also  the  most  direct  method  of  handling  this  important 
investigation,  is  that  which  examines  the  moral  character 
and  capacities  of  nations  and  of  rulers,  and  thus  founds  the 
whole  idea  of  their  duty  upon  that  will  which  gave  them 
existence."^  According  to  these  words,  the  will  of  God  is 
the  ultimate  law  which  is  to  guide  us,  and  the  precepts  of 
Scripture  are  the  clearest  interpretation  of  his  will.  Mr. 
M'Neile,  in  his  "  Lectures  on  the  Church  of  England,"  is 
more  earnest  and  abundant  in  his  testimony  to  the  same 
principle,  as  may  be  judged  from  the  following  extracts  : 
"  For  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  ecclesiastical  instru- 
mentality, we  claim  the  direct  authority  of  the  word  of 
God."^  "  We  have  been  taunted  with  our  unwillingness 
to  bring  the  matter  to  the  direct  light  of  revealed  truth, 
and  challenged  ....  to  come  to  the  law  and  to  the  testi- 
mony. We  accept  the  challenge,  and  cordially  rejoice  in 
the  assurance  that,  after  all,  nothing  has  the  same  extensive 
and  permanent  effect  upon  the  British  public  as  an  honest 
appeal  to  the  word  of  our  God."^  "  That  connection  with 
the  Christian  church,  which  we  have  shown  from  the  nature 
of  things  to  be  the  ruler's  safety,  we  proceed  now  to  show 
from  the  %vorcl  of  God  to  be  the  ruler's  duty."^  "  There 
is  no  prevention  of  confusion  in  the  outset,  but  by  a  mutual 
adherence  to  the  supreme  standard,  the  revealed  will  of 
God ;  and  there  is  no  recovery  from  confusion  in- 
curred BUT  BY  A  VIGOROUS  AND  DETERMINED  RECURRENCE 
(at    any     PRESENT     RISK)     TO     THAT     STANDARD."^         M.     dc 

Rougemont,  in  his  work  entitled  "  The  Individualists," 
repeatedly  enforces  the  same  principle.  His  great  charge 
against  M.  Vinet,  and  those  who  agree  with  him  in  pro- 
posing the  separation  of  the  Church  and  the  State,  is, 
"  That  they  are  establishing  a  new  dogma  without  the 
Bible,  and  contrary  to  it  i"^  "  That  in  questions  essentially 
religious  they  do  not  rest  upon  the  Bible,  but  on  human 
reasonings  :"^  "  That  M.  Vinet' s  book  offers  a  new  theory 
of  the  church,  without  furnishing  scriptural  proofs  for  its 

^  The  State  in  its  Relations  with  the  Church,  chap.  ii. 

2  Lectures,  p.  2.  ^  lb.  p.  7.  "  lb.  p.  148. 

"  lb.  p.  153.  6  lb.  p.  7.  ''  lb.  p.  11. 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

support."^  And,  lastly,  M.  Grandpierre  agreees  with  M. 
Rougemont  in  claiming  that  the  whole  doctrine  of  the 
separation  of  the  Church  and  State  should  be  based  upon 
the  Scripture.  "  Before  expounding  a  theory  with  which, 
according  to  our  author  (Vinet),  Christianity  is  so  inti- 
mately connected,  he  should  at  the  outset  have  asked  him- 
self. What  does  the  word  of  God  teach  us  on  this  subject."* 

Of  course,  whatever  is  scriptural  must  also  be  expedient, 
since  nothing  can  be  gained  by  departing  from  the  rule 
which  God  has  given  to  us  ;  but  the  expediency  of  the  rule 
is  not  the  foundation  of  its  authority.  If  God  has  mani- 
fested his  will  on  the  subject  of  the  union  of  the  churches 
of  Christ  with  the  governments  under  which  they  live, 
Christians  are  to  obey  it  because  it  is  his  will.  If  any 
human  authorities  command  us  to  do  what  he  forbids,  we 
can  only  answer  in  the  words  of  the  apostle  :  "  Whether  it 
he  right  in  the  sight  of  God  to  hearken  unto  you  more 
than  ttnto  God,  judge  ye? ....  We  ought  to  obey  God 
rather  than  men^^  No  authority  must  interfere  with 
his. 

Before  I  proceed  to  examine  how  far  the  union  of  the 
Church  with  the  State  is  agreeable  to  the  v*^ill  of  God,  it 
is  necessary  to  consider  what  is  meant  by  a  Church,  what 
is  meant  by  a  State,  and  what  is  meant  by  their  union. 

I.  The  word  '*  Church"  is  commonly  used  in  the  follow- 
ing senses  : 

1.  The  place  where  a  Christian  congregation  assembles 
— a  building  used  for  public  worship;  e.g.  "the  parish 
church." 

2.  Something  indefinite,  as  when  an  expression  being 
quoted  from  the  prayer-book,  it  is  said  to  be  what  the 
church  teaches. 

3.  The  clergy  paid  by  the  State  :  e.  g.  when  a  young  man 
joins  the  national  clergy  in  England  or  Scotland,  he  is  said 
to  "go  into  the  church." 

4.  All  persons  baptized  by  the  national  clergy,  and  con- 

^  Lectures,  p.  128. 

2  Reflections,  &c.,  par  J.  H.  Grandpierre,  p.  58. 

3  Acts  iv.  19.  "  Verse  29. 


MEANING  OF  THE  WORD  "  CHURCH."  17 

nected  with  their  ministry :  e.g.  "the  Church  of  England," 
"  the  Church  of  Scotland." 

5.  All  the  congregations  throughout  the  world  acknowl- 
edging a  particular  ecclesiastical  disciphne  :  e.  g.  "  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,"  "  the  Greek  Church,"  '<■  the 
Armenian  Church,"  "  the  Preshyterian  Church." 

6.  All  persons  throughout  the  world,  baptized  in  the 
name  of  Christ :  e.  g.  "  the  Visible  Church  Catholic." 

All  these  six  meanings  of  the  word  are  contrary  to  the 
original  meaning,  and  are  wholly  unscriptural.  It  is  not 
once  used  in  Scripture  in  any  of  these  senses. 

Besides  these,  it  has  three  other  meanings. 

1 .  It  was  originally  used  to  express  an  assembly  of  the 
citizens  in  the  Greek  republics.  When  the  legislative  as- 
sembly was  summoned  by  the  town-crier,  it  was  called  an 
sKK?ir]GLa,  a  church.^  In  this  sense  the  word  is  frequently  used 
by  Thucydides,  Xenophon,  Demosthenes,  and  other  writers.* 
And  in  this  sense  it  is  used  in  the  1 9th  chapter  of  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles.  A  crowd  having  assembled  in  the  theater 
at  Ephesus  to  maintain  their  idolatry  against  the  doctrine 
of  St.  Paul,  it  is  said  by  the  historian  that  "  the  sKKXrjOLa, 
or  church,  was  confused;"^  upon  which  the  town-clerk  urged 
them  to  restore  order,  declaring  that  every  matter  might 
be  determined  in  a  laiufid  eKKXriaia,  or  church;'^  with 
which  words  he  dismissed  that  riotous  eKfcXTjola,  or  church.^ 

2.  It  being  the  word  commonly  used  to  express  an  as- 
sembly of  citizens,  it  was  thence  adopted  by  the  apostles  to 
express  an  assembly  of  Christians  ;  the  Christian  sense  of 
the  word  growing  naturally  out  of  its  civil  sense.  Each 
Christian  congregation  is,  therefore,  in  the  New  Testament 
called  an  enKXrioia — an  assembly,  a  church.  The  con- 
gregation of  poor  persons  at  Philippi  was  called  the  church, 
or  assembly,  of  that  place. ^  The  poor  congregation  at 
Thessalonica  was  so  termed.^    A  small  congregation  which 

^  See  Liddell's  =' Lexicon." 

^  See  Stephen's  "Thesaurus,"  Liddell's  "Lexicon,"  Smith's 
"  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,"  and  Potter's  "  An- 
tiquities." ^  Acts  xix.  32.  ^  Acts  xix.  39. 

"  Verse  41.  ^  phu.  iv.  15.  ''I  Thess.  i.  1. 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

met  in  Cenchreae,  the  port  of  Corinth,  was  called  the 
church,  or  assembly,  of  Cenchreae.'  A  small  assembly 
•which  met  beneath  the  roof  of  Priscilla  and  Aquila  in  or 
near  Pvome,  was  called  the  church  in  their  house. ^  Phile- 
mon had  a  church  in  his  house  ;  ^  and  when  Paul  spoke  of 
the  Christian  congregations  scattered  over  a  country,  he 
always  termed  them  the  churches,  or  assemblies,  of  that 
territory.  Thus  we  read  of  the  churches  of  Judea,  the 
churches  of  Galatia,  and  the  churches  of  Macedonia  ;  ^  but 
never  of  the  church  of  Judea,  the  church  of  Galatia,  the 
church  of  Macedonia  :  because  the  Christians  of  a  single 
town  formed  one  assembly,  but  the  Christians  of  a  country 
many  assemblies. 

3.  Many  words  hare  in  common-life  a  literal  and  a 
figurative  meaning,  or,  I  should  rather  say,  a  corporeal 
and  a  spiritual  signification  ;  and  may  mean  either  some- 
thing visible  and  tangible,  or  something  invisible  which  is 
analogous.  The  hand  means  often  power,  the  head  intel- 
lect, the  heart  affection  ;  force  may  mean  mechanical  or 
moral  force  ;  an  uneasy  sensation  of  body  or  of  mind  may 
be  termed  pain  ;  the  word  gloom  may  describe  a  state  of 
the  atmosphere  or  the  condition  of  events  ;  the  mind  may 
be  agitated  as  well  as  the  sea  :  and  there  may  be  the  light 
of  reason  as  well  as  the  light  of  the  sun.  This  customary 
extension  of  words  from  the  corporeal  to  the  spiritual  has 
been  applied  to  the  word  "  church,"  so  that,  from  meaning 
a  local  and  visible  assembly  of  persons  gathered  into  one 
spot,  it  came  to  mean  the  whole  company  of  believers  in 
Christ  gathered  into  one  community,  by  receiving  the  same 
truths  ;^  and  so  become  one  city,  one  temple,  one  body,  one 
flock,  one  tree,  one  household,  one  family,  though  corpore- 
ally  scattered   over   the  whole   earth. ^     In  the  following 

^  Rom.  xvi.  1.  ^  Rom.  xvi.  5.  ^  Philemon  2. 

^  Gal.  i.  22;  1  Cor.  xvi.  11;  Gal.  i.  2 ;  2  Cor.  viii.  1.  See, 
also,  Acts  ix.  31  ;  xv.  41  ;  xvi.  5  ;  Rom.  xvi.  4,  16  ;  1  Cor.  vii.  17  ; 
xvi.  19;  Rev.  i.  4,  11,  &c. 

5  Matt.  xvi.  18;  Eph.  i.  22;  iii.  10,  21;  v.  23-32;  Heb. 
xii.  23. 

6  See  Gal.  iv.  26;  Heb.  xii.  22;  Eph.  ii.  21;  1  Cor.  xii.  12, 
13;  John  X.  16;  XV.  5;  Heb.  iii.  6;  Eph.  iii.  15. 


MEANING  OF  THE  WORD  "STATE."  19 

essay,  therefore,  I  shall,  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  adhere 
exclusively  to  the  scriptural  senses  of  the  word  "  church." 
By  this  word  I  do  not  mean  the  building,  nor  the  clergy,' 
nor  the  adherents  to  the  national  Establishment,  nor  the 
aggregate  of  the  congregations  adhering  to  any  particular 
ecclesiastical  discipline,  nor  the  whole  number  of  the 
baptized  throughout  the  world  ;  but  either  a  congregation 
of  professed  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ  in  any  place,  or, 
secondly,  the  whole  company  of  his  true  disciples  through- 
out the  world.  When  I,  therefore,  have  to  speak  of  the 
great  ecclesiastical  confederations  now  existing  in  the  world, 
I  shall,  to  avoid  confusion  in  the  argument,  adhere  to  the 
scriptural  phraseology.  I  shall  speak  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic churches  and  the  Greek  churches,  of  the  Scotch  Es- 
tablishment, of  the  English  Establishment,  or  of  the 
churches  within  these  Establishments  ;  not  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  the  Greek  Church,  the  Church  of  Scotland,  or 
the  Church  of  England.  And  the  reader  will  understand, 
therefore,  that  the  question  which  I  have  to  investigate  is, 
Whether  it  is  the  will  of  Christ  that  the  Christian  congre- 
gation, or  church,  and,  consequently,  that  the  Christian 
churches  within  the  Establishment,  should  be  united  with 
the  State  or  not  ? 

II.  By  the  word  "  State"  I  mean  the  governing  power 
in  the  nation,  including  the  legislative  and  the  executive 
powers.  In  our  own  country  the  executive  power  is  lodged 
with  the  Crown  and  the  ministers  ;  the  legislative  power 
belongs  to  four  bodies, — to  the  Crown,  the  House  of  Lords, 
the  House  of  Commons,  and,  indirectly,  to  the  Constitu- 
ency. The  question,  therefore,  which  I  have  to  investi- 
gate is.  Whether  it  be  according  to  the  will  of  Christ  that 
the  Christian  church,  or  congregation,  should  in  this 
country  be  united  with  the  government,  both  legislative 
and  executive,  or  not. 

III.  The  union  between  the  Church  and  the  State  of 
which  I  have  to  speak,  is  not  the  relation  of  each  member 
of  the  Church  as  a  citizen  to  the  government  under  which 
he  lives  ;  not  his  subjection  in  common  with  all  his  fellow- 
citizens  to  the  laws  and  to  the  sovereign ;  but  it  is  the 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

definite  union  between  the  Church  and  the  government, 
which  arises  from  a  national  payment  of  the  pastor,  and 
the  consequent  superintendence  of  him  and  of  the  Church 
by  the  State. 

I  have,  then,  to  inquire,  in  the  following  pages,  Whether 
it  is  the  will  of  Christ,  as  deducible  from  the  word  of  God, 
that  the  Christian  congregations  of  this  country  should 
receive  the  salaries  of  their  pastors  from  the  State,  and  be 
consequently  placed  under  its  superintendence  ? 


PART    L 


ON  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  UNION  BETWEEN  THE 
CHURCH  AND  THE  STATE. 

In  the  existing  -union  between  the  Establishment  and 
the  State  in  this  country  there  are  certain  leading  features 
which  determine  its  special  character.  The  State  main- 
tains the  clergy  of  the  Establishment,  asumes  in  return  a 
certain  amount  of  control  over  them,  confers  on  certain 
patrons  the  right  of  presenting  them  to  livings,  exalts  them 
above  the  ministers  of  other  sects,  and  compels  the  pajTuent 
of  the  rent-charges  and  rates  by  which  they  are  maintained. 
All  these  facts  condemn  the  union,  because  they  involve  a 
disregard  of  various  Christian  principles.  But,  anteced- 
ently to  that  condemnation  of  the  union  which  results 
from  the  examination  of  its  special  character,  there  is 
another  condemnation  of  it  derived  from  general  considera- 
tions, which  must  be  first  noticed. 


CHAPTER  I. 


GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  WHICH  CONDEMN  THE 
UNION. 

In  this,  as  in  every  other  question  of  religious  duty,  we 
must  ultimately  be  guided  by  the  word  of  God  :  but  as 
some  advocates  of  the  union,  who  could  find  no  scriptural 
authority  for  it,  have  pronounced  it  to  be  reasonable,  nat- 
ural, and  wise — reasonable  because  the  State  is  competent 
to  protect  and  superintend  the  Church,  natural  because  the 


22  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

relation  of  the  State  to  the  people  is  analogous  to  the 
parental  relation,  and  wise  because  confirmed  by  general 
experience — I  will  show,  before  I  examine  the  condemna- 
tion pronounced  upon  it  by  the  word  of  God,  that  it  is 
condemned  by  the  constitution  of  the  State,  by  the  parental 
relation,  and  by  the  practice  of  mankind  ;  to  all  of  which 
they  so  confidently  appeal  in  its  behalf. 

Section  I. —  The   Umo?i  bettveen  the   Church  and  the 
State  is  condemned  by  the  Constitution  of  the  State. 

The  duties  of  the  State  episcopate  are  to  determine  in 
the  last  resort  the  creed,  the  canons,  the  discipline,  and  the 
ministers  of  the  Establishment.  The  Establishment  can 
neither  amend  one  of  the  articles  of  its  creed  if  erroneous, 
nor  add  to  their  number  if  the  creed  be  defective,  without 
the  assent  of  the  State.  Without  the  concurrence  of  the 
State  it  can  not  meet  to  enact  a  canon,  nor  enact  a  canon 
when  met,  nor  execute  a  canon  when  enacted.  It  can 
not  execute  discipline  upon  offending  clergymen,  or  others, 
except  in  courts  of  which  the  State  appoints  the  judge  ; 
and  from  which  the  State  receives  appeals.  And,  lastly, 
the  State  both  nominates  its  prelates  and  determines  by 
law  the  appointment  of  all  its  pastors.  Now,  the  State  is 
unfitted  by  its  composition  to  execute  this  episcopate. 

For  these  ecclesiastical  functions  the  members  of  the 
State  ought  to  be  pious  and  united.  They  ought  to  be 
pious  because  none  but  pious  men  are  likely  to  study  the 
Scripture  with  sufficient  care  to  know  what  doctrine  it 
teaches  or  what  discipline  it  enjoins.  An  error,  for  instance, 
which  is  maintained  by  many  ministers  of  the  Establish- 
ment, and  for  the  support  of  which  they  refer  to  the  prayer- 
book,  is  the  notion  that  infants  are  regenerated  by  baptism. 
This  error,  wliich  ought  to  be  distinctly  repudiated  by  the 
Establishment,  can  not  be  expunged  from  its  formularies 
except  with  the  concurrence  of  Parliament ;  and  unless  the 
members  of  Parliament  are  generally  religious  men,  they 
are  not  likely  to  investigate  the  subject  with  sufficient  care, 
to  know  what  the  doctrine  of  Scripture  is  on  the  subject  of 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  STATE.  23 

regeneration.  Some  of  the  canons  of  the  Estabhshment 
breathe  the  bigotry  of  the  sixteenth  century.  These  ought 
at  once  to  be  erased  from  our  ecclesiastical  statute-book. 
But  the  Establishment  can  not  erase  them  without  the  aid 
of  the  House  of  Commons  ;  and  in  order  to  judge  of  their 
tinscriptural  spirit,  the  members  of  that  House  ought  to  be 
well  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures. 

The  members  of  the  State  ought  likewise  to  be  united 
in  ecclesiastical  questions  ;  because  any  judgment  pro- 
nounced by  a  majority  in  Parliament  against  a  minority 
within  the  legislature,  strengthened  by,  perhaps,  a  majority 
of  the  people,  must  always  be  without  moral  weight,  and 
lead  to  schism.  Besides,  when  parties  are  nearly  balanced, 
a  few  raiembers  of  the  most  irreligious  character  may  ulti- 
mately determine  the  most  important  ecclesiastical  questions 
which  Parliament  is  called  to  discuss. 

Now  the  members  of  Parliament  can  not  be  expected 
to  be  generally  either  pious  or  united  :  few  of  the  great  and 
wealthy  have  ever  been  distinguished  by  earnestness  in 
spiritual  religion.  "  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through 
the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the  king- 
dom of  God."^  And  from  the  first,  God  has  hid  the  truths 
of  the  Gospel  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  which  he  has 
revealed  to  babes. ^  Now  the  three  things  which  introduce 
men  into  the  legislature  are  rank,  wealth,  and  superior 
capacity.  The  House  of  Lords  is  composed,  without  refer- 
ence to  character,  of  those  who  inherit  rank  and  wealth. 
The  descendants  of  able  statesmen,  of  brave  generals,  of 
clever  lawyers,  or  of  successful  money-makers  ;  they  are 
hereditary  legislators,  whatever  may  be  their  lack  of  intel- 
lect, their  contempt  for  the  Gospel,  or  their  disregard  of 
morals.  To  the  House  of  Commons  many  obtain  admis- 
sion by  the  influence  of  property,  and  many  are  chosen 
because  of  their  capacity  to  maintain  the  political  views  of 
their  constituents.  The  electors  represent  the  mass  of  the 
nation.  They  may  be  honest  or  dishonest,  upright  or  cor- 
rupted, free  or  servile,  enlightened  or  prejudiced  ;  but  they 
can  not  be,  in  general,  godly.      And  they  are,  of  course, 

^  Matt.  xix.  24.  "'  Matt.  xi.  25. 


24  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

likely  to  choose  as  their  representatives  men  who  are  like 
themselves.  A  few  religious  men  may  be  chosen ;  the 
majority  must  be  irreligious.  It  can  not  be  otherwise.  Is 
the  world  spiritual  or  unspiritual,  regenerate  or  unregene- 
rate  ?  If  unspiritual  and  unregenerate,  why  should  they 
choose  spiritual  men  to  represent  them  in  ParHament  ?  I 
will  add  that  it  ought  not  to  be  otherwise.  If  we  are  to 
be  well  governed,  the  House  of  Commons  should  gather  to 
itself  the  greatest  capacities  in  the  kingdom.  A  religious 
man  without  talent  is  no  more  fitted  to  be  a  senator  than 
a  religious  man  without  muscle  is  fitted  to  be  a  blacksmith ; 
and  electors  should  no  more  choose  a  Christian  without 
sound  political  knowledge  to  direct  the  nation,  than  a 
government  should  choose  a  Christian  without  knowledge 
of  navigation  or  of  gunnery  to  command  a  man-of-war.  Re- 
ligious men,  though  more  upright  than  others,  are  not 
exempt  from  human  infirmities,  and  may  have  false  views 
in  politics,  with  small  capacity  ;  and  if  the  nation  were  in 
the  hands  of  such  men,  however  excellent,  their  blunders 
would  expose  the  legislature  to  contempt  and  the  country 
to  danger.  Our  rulers  ought  to  be  men  of  ability,  and  if 
they  have  sound  morals  this  is  all  which  can  be  generally 
asked.  Mr.  Gladstone,  when  endeavoring  to  prove  the 
competency  of  the  State  "  to  choose  the  national  religion" 
— "  to  choose  in  matter  of  religion  better  than  the  average 
of  the  people  will  do  it  for  themselves" — only  claims  for 
its  members  superior  intelligence  and  good  morals.  "  Gov- 
ernments ought  to  be — and  it  will  hardly  be  disputed  that, 
from  the  necessities  of  their  position,  they  actually  are — 
higher  in  the  scale  of  intelligence  than  the  fluctuating  ele- 
ments of  average  opinion. "i  "  Next,  if  we  regard  the 
ethical  character  or  personal  morality  of  rulers,  by  which 
I  mean  their  principles  of  Christian,  and  in  a  minor  sense, 
of  human,  virtue,  I  do  not  know  that  it  can  he  fairly 
taken  as  inferior  to  that  ivhich,  upon  the  ivhole,  charac- 
terizes the  mass."^  "  A  State  can  not  select  its  members 
from  the  mass,  nor  can  it  tnake  character  a  cojiditioji  of 
■power r^  Able  men,  though  without  religious  character, 
'  The  State,  &c.  i.  288.  '  lb.  p.  290.  »  lb.  p.  96. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  STATE.  25 

must  necessarily  make  their  way  into  it ;  and  Mr.  Roe 
buck  might  with  justice  declare,  in  his  place  in  Parlia- 
ment, "  We,  sir,  are,  or  ought  to  be,  the  elite  of  the  people 
of  England  for  mind  ;"^  but  neither  he,  nor  any  other 
member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  can  contend  that  they 
are  the  elite  of  the  people  of  England  for  piety.  But 
where  has  Mr.  Gladstone  learned  that  superior  intelligence 
and  average  morality  qualify  the  members  of  the  legisla- 
ture to  guide  and  to  superintend  the  churches  of  Christ,  to 
determine,  for  Christian  congregations  and  for  Christian 
pastors,  what  doctrine  is  true,  what  morality  is  scriptural, 
and  what  discipline  is  according  to  the  will  of  Christ  ? 
The  House  of  Commons  is  composed  of  the  eldest  sons  of 
peers,  of  baronets  and  squires,  of  naval  captains  and  of  colo- 
nels in  the  army,  of  lawyers,  of  aldermen,  of  bankers,  of 
merchants  and  manufacturers,  of  stockbrokers  and  railroad 
directors  ;  and  what  is  there  in  their  education  and  pur- 
suits to  qualify  them  to  be  rulers  of  the  churches  of  Christ, 
to  sit  in  judgment  iipon  creeds  and  canons,  or  to  determine 
for  all  the  Christians  of  the  land  the  election  of  their  pas- 
tors and  the  administration  of  church  discipline  ?  When 
our  Lord  preached  in  person,  his  doctrines  and  his  morality 
were  hid  from  the  wise  and  prudent.*^  In  St.  Paul's  day 
the  same  doctrines  and  morals  seemed  foolishness  to  the 
most  enlightened  Greeks.^  And  if  the  members  of  the 
legislature  have  the  highest  attributes  which  Mr.  Glad- 
stone ventures  to  assign  to  them — superior  intelligence  and 
average  morality,  with  nothing  more — they  are  much  more 
likely  to  despise  the  Gospel  than  to  honor  it,  to  trample  on 
its  precepts  than  to  uphold  them ;  and  are  utterly  disquali- 
fied to  exercise  an  ultimate  control  over  the  churches  of 
Christ.  Statesmanship  no  more  qualifies  to  direct  the 
affairs  of  a  church,  than  piety  qualifies  to  direct  the  afiairs 
of  a  nation.      Let  each  keep  to  its  own  sphere  of  action. 

But  the  unfitness  of  the  State  to  exercise  this  general 
episcopate  does  not  depend  merely  on  the  irreligion  of 
many  of  its  members  ;   the  discrepancy  of  their  opinions  is 

^  The  State  in  its  Relations,  &c.  vol.  i.  p.  286. 

2  Matt.  xi.  25.  ^  1  Cor.  i.  23. 

B 


26  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

not  less  fatal  to  their  competency.  "  There  may  be  a  state 
of  things,"  says  Mr.  Gladstone,  "in  which  religious  com- 
mmiions  are  so  equally  divided,  or  so  variously  subdivided, 
that  the  government  is  itself  similarly  checkered  in  its 
religious  complexion,  and  thus  internally  incapacitated  by 
utter  disunion  from  acting  in  matters  of  religion. "^  This 
is  our  state.  If  a  petition  is  presented  by  an  archbishop 
that  the  Establishment  may  have  some  ecclesiastical  gov- 
ernment, or  if  a  proposition  is  made  by  a  noble  lord  to  bring 
the  rubric  into  more  harmony  vi^ith  existing  custom,  by 
whom  are  these  points  to  be  decided  ?  First,  in  future 
days  by  a  sovereign  who  may  be  exactly  the  reverse  of  our 
gracious  Queen,  and  may  be  the  antitype  of  Henry  VIII. 
or  of  Charles  II.  Secondly,  by  the  Lords,  who  may  be 
Anglicans,  Presbyterians,  Roman  Catholics,  Socinians,  or 
men  of  pleasure  without  thought  of  any  religion.  Thirdly, 
by  members  of  the  House  of  Commons.  These  may  be 
men  of  high  principle  or  of  no  principle  ;  Roman  Catho- 
hcs,  Anglo-Catholics,  Deists,  Socinians,  Swedenborgians, 
or  Quakers  ;  they  may  be  religious  or  profane,  young  men 
of  gayety  and  fashion,  or  old  men  of  inveterate  immoral- 
ity ;  they  may  be  wealthy  or  steeped  in  debt ;  absolutists, 
sighing  for  the  resurrection  of  Laud  and  Strafford,  or  dem- 
ocrats, who  in  their  dreams  see  bright  visions  of  republic- 
anism ;  they  may  be  sportsmen,  who  are  ever  foremost  at 
the  death  of  the  fox,  or  keener  civic  hunters  after  gold  ; 
they  may  be  lovers  of  pleasure,  whose  employments  are 
seldom  more  serious  than  the  opera,  and  who  enter  the 
House  of  Commons  for  amusement ;  or  lovers  of  party, 
whose  highest  ambition  may  be  to  keep  one  minister  in,  or 
to  turn  another  out.  By  these  chambers  the  churches  of 
Christ  in  this  country  consent  that  their  creed  and  their 
laws,  their  discipline  and  the  choice  of  their  pastors,  shall 
be  ultimately  decided.  In  what  respect  would  two  other 
chambers,  the  first  composed  of  four  hundred  banliers,  and 
the  second  of  six  hundred  railroad  directors,  be  less  fitted 
to  superintend  those  churches  ?  To  leave  the  creeds  and 
the  discipline  of  the  churches  in  such  hands  is  to  check 
^  The  State  in  its  Relations,  &c.  vol.  i.  p.  304. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  STATE.  27 

the  progress  of  religion  and  to  make  Parliament  ridic- 
ulous. 

What  good  can  the  legislature  intend  to  effect  by  main- 
taining this  State  government  of  the  churches  ?  Does  the 
House  of  Commons  mean  to  promote  spiritual  religion  by 
it  ?  Alas  !  the  majority  of  its  members  are  probably  igno- 
rant of  spiritual  religion,  and  perhaps  ridicule  both  the  men 
who  uphold  it  and  the  mstitutions  by  which  it  is  promul- 
gated. Would  the  majority  of  these  ecclesiastical  rulers 
present  their  livings  to  evangelical  men  ?  Do  they  attend 
evangelical  preaching  ?  Are  they  subscribers  to  evangeli- 
cal societies,  to  the  Bible  Society,  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  the  Tract  Society,  or  the  London  City  Mission  ? 
In  what  way  do  they  individually  promote  spiritual  reli- 
gion ?  Do  they,  then,  intend  to  uphold  by  the  union  the 
morality  of  the  Gospel  ?  Its  precepts  condemn  all  quar- 
reling, urging  a  man  wdien  struck  on  one  cheek  to  present 
the  other,  and  enjoining,  on  pain  of  the  highest  penalties, 
the  forgiveness  of  offenders.  They*  declare  that  drunkards 
and  fornicators  shall  not  enter  heaven.  They  frown  on 
pride  and  exalt  humility  ;  and  not  only  do  they  discounte- 
nance debt,  but  command  the  rich,  as  stewards  of  God,  to 
give  liberally  to  the  poor.  How  many  of  the  two  Houses 
assent  to  these  rules  of  life  ?  How  many  exhibit  a  practi- 
cal subjection  to  their  authority  ?  The  morals  of  the 
Gospel,  no  less  than  its  doctrines,  have  ever  been  folly  to 
the  world.  Is  it  this  "folly"  which  the  majority  of  both 
Houses  uphold  ? 

But  if  the  legislature  does  not  intend  to  promulgate 
evangelical  doctrine,  or  to  enforce  Christian  morality  by  its 
maintenance  of  the  union,  they  must  have  some  other  ends 
in  view,  and  it  becomes  Christians  to  consider  seriously 
what  they  are.  Let  them,  however,  be  what  they  will, 
the  composition  of  the  State  is  such  as  to  make  its  exercise 
of  ecclesiastical  authority  at  once  a  crime  and  an  absurdity. 

It  is  vain  to  argue  that  governments  ought,  by  all  means 
in  their  power,  to  advance  the  cause  of  Christ.  This  may 
be  very  true,  and  yet  their  episcopate  remain  unscriptural, 
absurd,  and  mischievous.      It  is  the  duty  of  each  membei 


28  GENERAL  CONSIDERATION'S. 

of  Parliament,  of  each  peer,  of  each  minister  of  the  Crown, 
and  of  the  sovereign,  to  be  a  consistent  Christian.  Each 
ruler  of  the  country  is  bound  to  acknowledge  his  guilt  and 
ruin  as  a  sinner  who  could  only  be  saved  by  redemption 
through  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God,  to  trust  wholly  in  the 
merit  and  mediation  of  Christ  for  pardon,  for  holiness,  and 
for  heaven.  Rank,  wealth,  and  power,  only  increase  the 
obligation  upon  any  one  to  obey  the  will  of  God  declared  in 
the  Bible,  to  set  a  Christian  example,  to  be  a  member  of  a 
Christian  church,  to  govern  his  family  by  Christian  rules, 
to  train  up  his  children  in  the  fear  of  God,  to  discounte- 
nance vice,  to  discourage  dissipating  and  mischievous 
amusements,  to  promote  Christian  missions  among  the 
heathen,  to  aid  the  difiusion  of  evangelical  instruction  at 
home  by  liberal  contributions,  and  hi  all  other  ways  to 
honor  religion. 

Each  member  of  Parliament  is  no  less  bound  to  make 
the  law  of  God  the  exclusive  rule  of  his  public  conduct. 
Each  public  measure  should  be  considered  with  reference 
to  the  divine  will ;  each  vote  should  be  given  in  the  fear 
of  God  ;  and  every  legislator  is  called  to  avow  that  he  is 
governed  in  all  things  by  the  authority  of  Christ.  Who- 
ever neglects  these  duties  is  misusing  the  gifts  of  God,  and 
must  give  account  to  his  Maker  for  that  misuse. 

The  same  principles  should  obviously  govern  the  united 
action  of  all  the  members  of  the  State.  They  must  legis- 
late and  govern  in  the  fear  of  God,  according  to  Scripture, 
for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  the  nation.  Hence 
their  laws  must  be  neither  anti-Christian  nor  immoral, 
neither  unjust  nor  oppressive  :  they  ought  to  discourage  all 
profanity  and  ungodliness  among  themselves  ;  they  should 
afford  to  all  the  agents  of  government,  to  soldiers,  sailors, 
and  policemen,  opportunities  and  means  of  religious  im- 
provement ;  they  should  abolish  all  class  legislation,  create 
no  unjust  monopolies,  protect  the  weak  from  oppression, 
ameliorate  by  all  means  in  their  power  the  condition  of  the 
poor,  remove  all  artificial  checks  upon  industry,  make  all 
the  subjects  equal  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  admit  as  many  as 
possible  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  constitution,  and  gene- 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  STATE.  29 

rally  make  the  happiness  of  all  the  object  of  their  constant 
efforts.  They  are  further  called  to  protect  Christians  in 
their  worship,  to  allow  no  public  hindrance  to  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel,  to  secure  the  safety  of  Christian  mission- 
aries throughout  the  empire,  to  elevate  the  condition  of  the 
aborigines  of  our  colonies,  to  be  upright  and  fair  in  their 
diplomacy,  to  condemn  and  to  abstain  from  war,  and  to  aid 
rather  than  hinder  the  prosperity  of  other  nations.  Finally, 
while  discharging  these  Christian  duties,  they  no  less  owe 
it  to  their  Lord  and  Redeemer  to  leave  his  churches  free 
from  all  secular  control,  to  intrude  no  ministers  upon  them, 
to  impose  no  tax  on  the  reluctant  for  the  purposes  of  religion, 
and  to  use  no  coercion  whatever  of  their  subjects  in  any 
religious  matters. 

Thus  if  the  State  were  wholly  Christian,  it  ought  to 
abolish  its  imion  with  the  churches.  But  is  it  Christian  ? 
How  many  members  of  Parliament  profess  to  trust  wholly 
in  Christ  for  their  salvation  from  hell,  and,  therefore,  make 
his  word  their  exclusive  rule  of  conduct  ?  If  the  majority 
are  without  this  faith,  they  are  unchristian  and  ungodly  ; 
and  the  union  between  the  Church  and  State,  is  the  union 
between  the  churches  of  Christ  and  a  body  of  unconverted 
men — it  is  the  union  of  the  church  with  the  world.  And 
since  all  who  are  not  with  Christ  are  against  him,  it  is 
the  union  of  his  friends  with  his  enemies.  The  effect 
of  the  union  does  not  depend  upon  what  the  State  ought 
to  be,  but  upon  what  it  is  ;  and  to  advocate  the  union 
because  the  State  is  bound  to  be  evangelical,  is  the 
same  thing  as  to  say  that  a  thief  should  be  made  the 
trustee  of  a  property  because  he  is  bound  to  be  honest ;  or 
that  the  Lord's  Supper  should  be  administered  to  a  drunken 
profligate  because  he  is  bound  to  be  virtuous  and  sober. 
The  advocates  of  the  union  constantly  argue  not  from 
what  the  State  is,  but  from  what  it  ought  to  be  ;  and  infer 
most  erroneously  the  effect  of  the  union  of  the  churches 
with  t!ie  actual  State  from  what  they  suppose  would  be 
the  effect  of  their  union  with  the  Utopian  State.  The 
actual  State  is  irreligious,  and  the  churches  are  bound  to 
dissolve  their  union  with  it. 


30  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

Section  II. —  The  JJnicni  is  condemned  by  the  Parental 
Relation. 

Mr.  Gladstone,  as  well  as  other  advocates  of  the  union, 
has  much  insisted  on  the  analogy  between  the  nation  and 
the  family — ^between  the  functions  of  the  State  and  those 
of  the  parent.^  Hence,  he  adds,  "I  argue  that  the  State 
when  rightly  constituted  is  eminently  competent,  by  intrin- 
sic as  well  as  extrinsic  attributes,  to  lead  and  to  solicit  the 
mind  of  the  people,  to  exercise  the  function,  modified  indeed, 
but  yet  real,  of  an  instructor,  and  even  of  a  parent."^ 
Bishop  Wilson  adds,  "  Though  an  Establishment  is  not 
essential  to  Christianity  itself,  it  is  essential  to  every  Chris- 
tian government  Avhich  desires  to  discharge  its  highest 
obligations  toward  the  people  committed  to  its  care.  A 
connection  between  Christianity  and  the  rulers  of  a  Chris- 
tian country  is  imperiously  required  to  fulfill  the  duty  of  the 
Parent  of  the  State  to  his  vast  family."  ^  The  doctrine 
grounded  on  this  analogy  is  that,  as  a  parent  must  provide 
Christian  instruction  ibr  his  family,  so  the  State  must  pro- 
vide Christian  instruction  for  the  nation.  Both  the  analogy 
and  the  doctrine  founded  upon  it  are  false. 

The  State  being  composed  of  Queen,  Lords,  and  Com- 
mons, among  which  three  estates  the  House  of  Commons 
having  now  so  much  influence  that  its  decided  and  per- 
manent judgment  determines  ultimately  every  public  ques- 
tion, we  must  consider  that  House  as  being  especially  the 
depository  of  the  State's  parental  authority.  But  if  the 
House  of  Commons  is  the  parent  of  the  nation,  the  differ- 
ence between  the  father  of  the  nation  and  the  father  of  the 
family  is  so  considerable  as  to  make  their  respective  duties 
exceedingly  distinct. 

1.  Children  being  placed  under  the  authority  of  their 
parents  through  their  weakness  and  ignorance,  without  any 
choice  of  their  own,  the  control  of  them  by  their  lather  is 
natural  and  unavoidable  ;  but  the  House  of  Comnftns  is 
chosen  by  the  electors  of  the  empire,  and  is,  therefore,  an 

1  The  State,  &c.  vol.  i.  pp.  72-76,  85.  ^  j|j   p   282. 

^  Bishop  of  Calcutta's  "  Farewell  Charge,"  p.  24. 


THE  TARENTAL  RELATION  OF  THE  STATE.  31 

elective  father,  an  adopted  parent,  raised  to  that  dignity  hy 
his  adopting  children,  to  whom  alone  he  owes  his  position 
and  his  power. 

2.  The  father  of  the  family  has  a  permanent,  and,  within 
certain  limits,  an  irresponsible  control,  so  that  he  can  de- 
termine the  education  of  his  children  from  infancy  to  man- 
hood. But  the  national  father  is  elected  by  his  children, 
on  certain  terms  and  for  certain  ends,  can  claim  no  more 
power  than  they  are  pleased  to  concede,  is  responsible  to 
them  for  the  execution  of  his  office,  is  forced  by  them 
to  resign  it  at  the  end  of  seven  years,  because  they  are 
afraid  that  he  would  assume  too  much  authority,  and  all 
his  decisions  may  be  revoked  by  the  next  elected  national 
father,  whose  views  may  be  totally  opposed  to  his  own. 

Since,  then,  the  circumstances  of  the  parent  are  so  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  the  State,  it  is  obviously  unsafe  to 
argue  from  the  duties  of  the  one  to  the  functions  of  the 
other  ;  but  just  so  far  as  there  is  an  analogy  between  thera, 
that  analogy  condemns  the  control  of  the  Church  by  the 
State  as  absurd  :  for  when  the  children  of  any  family  grow 
up  to  manhood,  they  are  invariably  emancipated  from  pa- 
rental control  in  matters  of  religion.  What  parent  would 
think  of  dictating  to  his  son  at  the  age  of  thirty,  the  creed 
which  he  should  profess,  or  the  minister  whom  he  should 
attend  ?  What  son  at  that  age  would  submit  to  such  dic- 
tation ?  At  that  epoch  the  authority  of  the  father  in 
religious  matters  has  expired,  since  every  man  is  responsible 
to  God  for  his  religious  conduct,  and  can  permit  no  one  to 
interpose  between  his  Maker  and  him.  The  son  is  then 
become  religiously  independent ;  and  all  attempts  to  im- 
pose on  him  a  creed  or  a  religious  teacher  would  be  usurpa- 
tion. The  obligation  of  the  parent  to  teach  the  children 
arising  solely  from  their  need  of  divine  truth,  from  their 
incapacity  to  judge  for  themselves,  the  reason  of  this  dicta- 
tion ceases  as  soon  as  their  faculties  are  mature,  and  from 
that  time  it  would  be  criminal  in  them  to  permit  its  exer- 
cise. Not  less  imbecile  and  culpable  is  it  in  a  nation  to 
allow  the  State  to  dictate  its  creed  :  for  the  nation  is  full- 
grown.      There  have  been  times  when  a  government  might 


30  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

with  some  plausibility  assume  toward  a  nation  the  tone  of 
a  parent  to  a  child  :  but  why  should  this  nation  be  treated 
as  a  child  now  ?  Myriads  of  men  in  this  country  can  think 
for  themselves  on  religion  as  well  as  the  658  menibers  of 
the  House  of  Commons  can  think  for  them.  In  every  free 
nation  the  press  and  the  platform  are  co-ordinate  powers 
with  the  legislature  itself:  and  in  this  country  every  day 
makes  it  more  manifest,  that  the  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons  are  not  pedagogues,  but  representatives  of  men  ; 
among  whom  are  many  who  are  as  able  as  themselves  to 
investigate  every  question  both  of  politics  and  morals  :  and 
if  the  nation  is  composed  of  men.  Parliament  should  cease 
to  treat  them  as  children.  Indeed,  in  no  other  question 
are  they  treated  as  children.  The  State  does  not  determine 
for  us  our  lawyer,  physician,  or  tradesman  ;  why  should  it 
appoint  our  pastor  ?  Why  select  for  its  dictation  precisely 
the  matter  in  which  it  is  the  least  competent  to  dictate,  and 
in  which  its  blunders  are  the  most  injurious  ?  When  the 
parent  chooses  the  pastor  for  his  children,  he  chooses  also 
their  physician  and  their  tradesman  ;  if  the  State  will  play 
the  parent  with  men,  let  it  nominate  our  physicians  and  our 
tradesmen  no  less  than  our  ministers.  Either  treat  us 
wholly  as  children,  or  wholly  as  men. 

When  a  parent  relinquishes  all  control  over  the  religion 
of  his  children,  because  they  have  attained  to  manhood,  he 
may  yet  be  wiser  than  they,  and  is  certainly  more  experi- 
enced. But  what  religious  wisdom  and  experience  has  this 
elected  national  father,  who  retains  the  control  over  the 
churches  of  Christ  ?  Here,  in  truth,  the  analogy  between 
the  relation  of  the  State  to  the  churches  and  the  relation 
of  the  parent  to  his  children  is  wholly  reversed.  In  the 
churches  of  Christ  is  collected  all  the  religiovis  wisdom  of 
the  country  :  in  the  House  of  Commons  there  is  little 
religious  wisdom.  If  in  political  knowledge  Parliament 
may  resemble  the  parent  and  the  nation  be  like  the  child, 
in  spiritual  knowledge  Parliament  is  like  the  child  while 
the  churches  have  the  wisdom  of  the  parent  :  and  to  in- 
trust Parliament  with  the  creed,  laws,  and  discipline  of  the 
churches,  is  to  intrust  the  control  of  the  parent  to  the  child. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  33 

But  this  is  not  the  whole  of  the  absurdity  involve<l  in 
the  State  episcopate.  As  no  one  can  teach  what  he  doe? 
not  know,  or  will  inculcate  what  he  does  not  believe,  an 
ungodly  father  can  not  educate  his  children  in  religion. 
On  the  contrary,  some  ungodly  parents  have  been  known 
so  systematically  to  vitiate  the  minds  of  their  children,  thai 
the  Court  of  Chancery  has  on  this  ground  taken  from  them 
the  custody  of  their  own  sons.  The  State  is  under  the 
same  incapacity.  H  the  House  of  Commons  be  the  national 
father,  it  is  a  father  so  irreligious,  that  the  children  should 
be  withdrawn  from  his  control.  Six  hundred  members  of 
ParHament,  with  no  more  religion  than  six  hundred  men 
taken  at  hazard  from  any  city  or  town  of  Great  Britain, 
whose  theological  opinions,  including  Romanism,  High- 
Churchism,  Socinianism,  and  a  thousand  other  varieties, 
make  up  a  perfect  chaos  of  irreconcilable  contradictions, 
are  not  entitled  to  control  the  creed  and  discipline  of  12,000 
Christian  Churches. 

To  complete  this  view  of  the  absurdity  of  the  union,  we 
must  add  that,  while  the  father  of  a  family  controls  the 
education  of  his  children,  because  he  pays  for  it,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament,  instead  of  paying 
themselves  for  the  spiritual  instruction  of  the  nation,  force 
the  nation  to  pay  for  it,  distraining  on  the  property  of  all 
who  refuse  to  pay  :  just  as  if  an  ignorant  and  ungodly  pa- 
rent should  force  his  children,  when  grown  up  to  manhood, 
to  receive  a  bad  tutor  from  him,  and  should  beat  and  force 
them  if  they  would  not  build  a  lecture-room,  and  pay  the 
tutor's  salaries  themselves. 

It  is  astonishing  that  Mr.  Gladstone  and  Bishop  Wilson 
can  build  so  lofty  a  fabric  on  a  foundation  so  rotten. 

Section  III. —  The  Union  condemned  by  History. 

No  truth  is  more  prominent  in  the  New  Testament 
than  that  we  are  saved  by  faith  in  our  Redeemer. ^  But 
faith,   according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  same  book,  is  not 

1  John  i.  12;  iii.  14-16,  36;  Mark  xvi.  15,  16;  Acts  xiii.  39; 
xvi.  31  ;  Rom.  iii.  19-28  ;  Gal.  ii.  15,  16  ;  iii.  9,  26 ;  Eph.  ii.  8,  &o. 


34  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

genuine,  unless  it  leads  to  an  open  confession  of  Christ  in 
the  world  ;^  and,  therefore,  Christ  required  from  all  his 
disciples  that  they  should  openly  confess  him  by  baptism  ; 
which,  becoming  the  test  of  a  true  faith,  was  therefore 
connected  with  the  remission  of  sins.^  Thus,  as  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  bear  witness  to  the 
truth,  though  it  cost  him  his  life,^  so  his  disciples  must 
bear  witness  to  it. 

Since  his  doctrine  has  been  preached  men  can  no  longer 
receive  the  creed  of  their  fathers  or  of  their  country  with- 
out investigation  ;  but  each  one  is  bound  to  search  after 
truth,  to  receive  it,  to  maintain  it,  and  to  promulgate  it  in 
the  world,  in  opposition  to  all  error,  however  venerable  or 
popular.  Our  Lord  predicted  that  this  novel  exercise  of 
conscience  in  matters  of  religion,  this  independent  inquiry 
and  resolute  profession,  would  disturb  society  every  where 
to  its  very  foundations.  "  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to 
send  peace  on  earth :  I  came  not  to  send  peace  hut  a 
sivord.  For  I  am  come  to  set  a  man  at  variance  against 
his  father,  and  the  daughter  against  her  mother,  and 
the  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother-in-laio :  and  a 
ma7is  foes  shall  be  they  of  his  own  household}  And  ye 
sludl  be  hated  of  all  nations  for  my  name's  sake.'''" 

The  Christian  principle  of  individual  inquiry,  belief,  and 
profession,  was  exactly  the  opposite  of  the  pagan  principle 
of  unexamining  conformity.  The  Gospel  made  conscience 
every  thing,  declaring,  "  Let  every  man  be  fully  persuad- 
ed in  his  0W71  mind  ....  Whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is 
sin."^  Heathenism  made  it  nothing.  According  to  the 
Gospel,  every  one  was  bound  to  reject  the  religion  of  his 
country  if  false.  According  to  heathenism,  every  one  was 
to  conform  to  the  religion  of  his  country  in  all  things. 
Christianity  invited  men  to  form  a  voluntary  society,  upon 
conviction  as  men  ;  heathenism  herded  them,  by  law,  as 
animals,  within  the  inclosure  of  a  national  ritual. 

^  Matt.  X.  32,  33;   Rom.  x.  10. 

2  Mark  xvi.  16;  Acts  ii.  37;  viii.  37;  xxii.  16;   1  Pet.  iii.  21, 

3  John  xviii.  37.  *  Matt.  x.  34-36. 
*  Matt.  xxiv.  9.  ®  Rom.  xiv.  5,  23. 


THE  Ux\[ON  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  35 

The  Greek  legislators,  wishing  to  secure  for  the  republic 
the  greatest  military  force  by  means  of  the  most  complete 
social  unity,  forbade  dissent  from  the  popular  superstition. 
A  man  who  disbelieved  the  power  of  fictitious  and  corrupt 
deities  was  thought  to  be  a  bad  citizen,  and  was  as  such 
condemned.  Draco  punished  dissent  with  death  ;  Plato 
would  have  it  denounced  to  the  magistrates  as  a  crime  ; 
Aristotle  allowed  but  one  established  worship  ;  and  Socra- 
tes was  sentenced  to  death  as  a  nonconformist.  In  the 
Greek  republics  the  union  between  the  State  and  the  reli- 
gion was  so  complete,  that  the  rights  of  conscience  were 
wholly  disregarded.  Men  did  not  inquire  what  was  true, 
but  what  was  politic.  The  repubhc  must  be  a  great  unity 
for  attack  or  defense,  and  the  religious  independence  which 
would  break  that  unity  must  be  exterminated. ^ 

Heathen  princes  had  yet  more  powerful  motives  than 
republican  magistrates  to  unite  themselves  strictly  with  the 
priesthood.  Despotic  rulers  have  ever  sought  to  extort 
from  their  subjects  all  possible  advantages  for  themselves, 
and  for  this  end  to  retain  them  in  the  most  complete  servi- 
tude. They  have  chiefly  depended  on  their  armies  ;  but 
the  fears  and  the  hopes  excited  by  superstition  have  been 
too  obvious  a  support  not  to  be  largely  employed.  Well- 
paid  soldiers  have  been  their  first  instrument  of  power  ; 
their  second  has  been  a  well-paid  priesthood.  Priests  have 
lent  to  despots,  in  aid  of  their  selfish  designs,  the  portents 
and  the  predictions  of  superstition ;  and  despots  have  in  return 
invested  the  superstition  with  splendor,  and  punished  non- 
conformity with  death.  Heathenism  presented  no  obstacle 
to  this  union.  The  superstition  being  a  corrupt  invention, 
offered  nothing  which  was  disagreeable  to  corrupt  rulers  ; 
and  the  vices  of  rulers  were  not  uncongenial  to  an  equally 
corrupt  priesthood.  Nebuchadnezzar  exalted  himself  when 
he  compelled  his  subjects  of  every  creed  to  bow  down  to 
his  golden  idol ;  Belshazzar,  amid  his  revels,  felt  no  objec- 
tion to  "praise  the  gods  of  gold  and  silver;"  and  it  seemed 
to  Darius  excellent  policy  to  establish  a  royal  statute  that 
no  prayers  should  be  offered  to  any  god  but  himself  for 
^  See  "  Christianisme  et  Paganisme,"  by  Count  de  Gasparin,  e.  1. 


36  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

thirty  days.^  The  infamous  Tarquin  could,  without  any 
inconvenient  restraint  upon  his  passions,  build  temples  to 
Jupiter  ;  Caligula  and  Nero  felt  no  remorse  at  their  wick- 
edness, excited  by  the  fulfillment  of  their  functions  of 
supreme  pontifis  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Brahmins 
of  India  found  nothing  in  their  Vedas  and  Purannas  which 
made  them  blush  at  the  vices  and  the  tyranny  of  the  rajahs 
by  whom  they  were  enriched.  By  the  aid  of  the  supersti- 
tion the  despot  fortified  his  tyranny,  and  by  the  aid  of  the 
despotism  the  priest  gave  currency  to  his  falsehoods.  Thus 
the  union  of  the  State  and  the  priesthood  was  an  alliance 
of  force  and  fraud.  Neither  party  was  strong  enough  to 
rule  alone.  But  when  the  priest  preached  for  the  despot, 
and  the  despot  governed  for  the  priest,  both  the  more  easily 
kept  their  feet  upon  the  necks  of  the  people ;  and  made  the 
universal  degradation  subservient  to  their  greatness. 

When  the  churches  began  to  be  corrupted  by  the  in- 
creasing wealth  of  their  ministers,  this  pagan  union  of  the 
State  with  the  priesthood  was  extended  to  them  ;  and  em- 
perors with  the  Christian  name  sought  the  aid  of  a  corrupt 
Christian  priesthood,  as  heathen  emperors  had  sought  the 
aid  of  augurs  and  of  heathen  priests.  Constantine,  who 
first  openly  protected  the  Christian  churches,  can  scarcely 
be  supposed  to  have  done  so  from  religious  feeling.  The 
progress  of  Christianity  had  been  very  considerable;  If, 
before  this  reign,  the  Christians  did  not  amomit  to  more 
than  one-twentieth  part  of  the  population,  as  asserted  by 
Gibbon,^  still  this  number  of  avowed  Christians,  at  a  time 
when  the  profession  of  faith  in  Christ  exposed  them  to 
martyrdom,  indicates  that  a  much  larger  number  were 
secretly  convinced  of  its  truth.  Licinius,  the  rival  of  Con- 
stantine, could  not,  by  his  heathen  zeal,  raise  any  popular 
enthusiasm  in  his  support  ;  and  if  we  had  no  other  proof 
of  the  numerical  extension  of  professed  believers,  we  may 
infer  it  with  certainty  from  the  recorded  habits  of  the 
clergy.  "  During  the  third  century,"  says  Mosheim,  "  the 
bishops  assumed  in  many  places  a  princely  authority  ;  they 
appropriated   to  their    evangelical    function   the    splendid 

^  Daniel  ill.  v.  vi.  »  Chffp.  xv. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  37 

ensigns  of  imperial  majesty.  A  throne  surrounded  with 
ministers  exalted  above  his  equals  the  servant  of  the  meek 
and  humble  Jesus  ;  and  sumptuous  garments  dazzled  the 
eyes  and  the  minds  of  the  multitude  into  an  ignorant  ven- 
eration for  their  arrogated  authority.  The  example  of  the 
bishops  was  ambitiously  imitated  by  the  presbyters,  who, 
neglecting  the  sacred  duties  of  their  station,  advanced  them- 
selves to  the  indolence  and  delicacy  of  an  effeminate  and 
luxurious  life.  The  deacons,  beholding  the  presbyters  de- 
serting thus  their  functions,  boldly  usurped  their  rights  ; 
and  the  effects  of  a  corrupt  ambition  were  spread  through 
every  rank  of  the  sacred  order.  "^  The  splendor  and  ambi- 
tion of  the  clergy  manifest  clearly  that  the  Christians  were 
become  a  powerful  body,  whom  Constantine  would  desire 
to  attach  to  his  cause,  and  their  number  renders  it  very 
probable  that  policy  was  the  earliest  ground  of  his  Christian 
profession.  "  His  conduct  to  the  Christians  was  strictly  in 
accordance  with  his  interests  ;  and  it  is  very  probable  that 
the  protection  with  which  he  distinguished  them  may,  in 
the  first  instance,  have  originated  in  his  policy."  ^  But  if 
it  began  in  policy,  political  considerations  would  still  more 
powerfully  urge  him  to  continue  it.  He  had  learned,  no 
doubt,  from  the  disturbances  continually  excited  by  Licinius, 
that  neither  himself  nor  the  empire  could  enjoy  a  fixed 
state  of  tranquillity  as  long  as  the  ancient  superstitions 
subsisted  ;  and,  therefore,  from  this  period,  he  openly 
opposed  the  sacred  rites  of  paganism  as  a  religion  detri- 
mental to  the  interests  of  the  state. ^  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  too  plain  that  he  was  an  irreligious  man.  It  was  in 
the  year  313  that  he  published  the  edict  of  Milan,  by 
which  he  proclaimed  universal  toleration,  and  secured  to 
the  Christians  their  civil  and  religious  rights.*  But,  in 
the  year  325,  he  ordered  his  rival,  Licinius,  to  be  stran- 
gled ;^  and  the  same  year  in  which  he  convened  the  Council 
of  Nice  was  polluted  by  the  execution,  or  rather  murder, 

^  Mosheim,  cent.  iii.  part  ii.  chap.  ii.  sect.  4. 

2  Waddington,  "  History  of  the  Church,"  p.  79. 

^  Mosheim,  cent.  iv.  part  i.  chap.  1.  sect.  10. 

*  Waddington,  p.  77.  *  Mosheim,  ut  supra. 


38  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

of  his  eldest  soii.^  "It  is  not  disputed  that  his  career  was 
marked  by  the  usual  excesses  of  intemperate  and  worldly- 
ambition  ;  and  the  general  propriety  of  his  moral  conduct 
can  not  with  any  justice  be  maintained,"  ^  After  his  con- 
version to  Christianity  he  still  continued,  as  supreme  pon- 
tiff, to  be  the  head  of  the  religion  of  heathen  Rome,  and 
thus  continued  to  be  invested  with  more  absolute  authority 
over  the  religion  he  had  deserted  than  over  that  which  he 
professed.^  But,  as  he  had  been  the  head  of  the  heathen 
priesthood,  it  seemed  to  him  right  that  he  should  make 
himself  equally  the  head  of  the  Christian  priesthood.  He, 
therefore,  assumed  a  supreme  jurisdiction  over  the  clergy.* 
One  of  the  earliest  objects  of  his  policy  was  to  diminish 
the  independence  of  the  Church.  For  which  purpose  he 
received  it  into  strict  alliance  with  the  State  ;  and  com- 
bined in  his  own  person  the  highest  ecclesiastical  with  the 
highest  civil  authority.^  The  entire  control  of  the  external 
administration  of  the  Church  he  assumed  to  himself.  He 
regulated  every  thing  respecting  its  outward  discipline  ;  the 
final  decision  of  religious  controversies  was  subjected  to  the 
discretion  of  judges  appointed  by  him ;  and  no  general 
council  could  be  called  except  by  his  authority.^  Though 
he  permitted  the  Church  to  remain  a  body  politic  distinct 
from  that  of  the  State,  yet  he  assumed  to  himself  the 
supreme  power  over  this  sacred  body,  and  the  right  of 
modeling  and  of  governing  it  in  such  a  manner  as  should 
be  most  conducive  to  the  public  good.'^  Thus  he  exercised 
at  once  a  supremacy  over  the  heathen  and  the  Christian 
priesthoods.  He  was  the  chief  pontiff  of  heathenism,  and 
the  chief  bishop  of  the  Christian  Church.  And  this  State 
episcopate  he  exercised  many  years  before  he  was  baptized  ; 
and  long  before  he  was  a  member  of  the  Church  he  was  its 
summus  episcopus  ;  and  only  a  few  days  before  his  death 
received  from  Eusebius,  bishop  of  Nicomedia,  the  ceremony 
of  baptism.^ 

^   Gibbon,  chap.  xx.  ^  Waddington,  pp.  77,  78. 

^  Gibbon,  c.  xxi.  ^  Gibbon,  c.  xx. 

^  Waddington,  p.  81.  ^  Waddington,  p.  83. 

'  Mosheim,  cent.  iv.  pt.  ii.  c.  2,  H.  '  lb.  chap.  1,  sect.  8. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  39 

The  consequence  of  this  union  between  an  irreligious 
prince  and  the  clergy,  who  were  already  much  corrupted, 
was  lamentable.  At  the  conclusion  of  this  century  there 
remained  no  more  than  a  mere  shadow  of  the  ancient  gov- 
ernment of  the  Church.  Many  of  the  privileges  which  had 
formerly  belonged  to  the  presbyters  and  people  were  usurped 
by  the  bishops  ;  and  many  of  the  rights  which  had  been 
formerly  vested  in  the  Universal  Church  were  transferred 
to  the  emperors  and  to  subordinate  magistrates.^  The  ad- 
ditions made  by  the  emperors  and  others  to  the  wealth, 
honors,  and  advantages  of  the  clergy,  were  followed  with  a 
proportionable  augmentation  of  vices  and  luxury,  particu- 
larly among  those  of  that  sacred  order  who  lived  in  great 
and  opulent  cities.  The  bishops,  on  the  one  hand,  con- 
tended with  each  other  in  the  most  scandalous  manner, 
concerning  the  extent  of  their  respective  jurisdictions ; 
while,  on  the  other,  they  trampled  on  the  rights  of  the 
people,  violated  the  privileges  of  the  inferior  ministers,  and 
emulated,  in  their  conduct  and  ifi  their  manner  of  living, 
the  arrogance,  voluptuousness,  and  luxury  of  magistrates 
and  princes.  This  pernicious  example  was  soon  followed 
by  the  several  ecclesiastical  orders.  The  presbyters,  in 
many  places,  assumed  an  equality  with  the  bishops  in  point 
of  rank  and  authority.  We  find  also  many  complaints 
made  of  the  vanity  and  effeminacy  of  the  deacons. ^  An 
enormous  train  of  superstitions  was  gradually  substituted 
for  genuine  piety.  Frequent  pilgrimages  were  undertaken 
to  Palestine  and  to  the  tombs  of  martyrs.  Absurd  notions 
and  idle  ceremonies  multiplied  every  day  ;  dust  and  earth 
brought  from  Palestine  were  sold  and  bought  every  where 
at  enormous  prices,  as  the  most  powerful  remedies  against 
the  violence  of  wicked  spirits.  Pagan  processions  were 
adopted  into  Christian  worship,  and  the  virtues  which  had 
formerly  been  ascribed  by  the  heathen  to  their  temples, 
their  lustrations,  and  the  statues  of  their  gods,  were  now 
attributed  by  the  baptized  to  their  churches,  their  holy 
water,  and  the  images  of  saints.^      Rumors  were  spread 

^  Mosheim,  cent.  iv.  part  ii.  chap.  2,  sect.  2. 

2  lb.  chap.  2,  sect.  8.  ^  lb.  chap.  3,  sect.  2. 


40  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

abroad  of  prodigies  and  miracles  ;  robbers  were  converted 
into  martyrs  ;  many  of  the  monks  dealt  in  fictitious  relics, 
and  ludicrous  combats  with  evil  spirits  were  exhibited.  "A 
whole  volume  would  be  requisite  to  contain  an  enumeration 
of  the  various  frauds  which  artful  knaves  practiced  with 
success  to  delude  the  ignorant,  when  true  religion  was  al- 
most superseded  by  horrid  superstition."'  The  number  of 
immoral  and  unworthy  persons  bearing  the  Christian  name 
began  so  to  increase,  that  examples  of  real  piety  became 
extremely  rare.  When  the  terrors  of  persecution  were 
dispelled — when  the  churches  enjoyed  the  sweets  of  pros- 
perity— when  most  of  the  bishops  exhibited  to  their  flocks 
the  contagious  examples  of  arrogance,  luxury,  effeminacy, 
hatred,  and  strife,  with  other  vices  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion— M'hen  the  inferior  clergy  fell  into  sloth  and  vain 
wranglings,  and  when  multitudes  were  drawn  into  the  pro- 
fession of  Christianity,  not  by  the  power  of  argument,  but 
by  the  prospect  of  gain  and  the  fear  of  punishment — then 
it  was,  indeed,  no  wonder  that  the  churches  were  contam- 
inated with  shoals  of  profligates,  and  that  the  virtuous  few 
were  overwhelmed  with  the  numbers  of  the  wicked  and 
licentious.^  The  age  Avas  sinking  daily  from  one  degree  of 
corruption  to  another  ;  and  the  churches  were  thus  pre- 
pared for  that  fatal  heresy  which  at  one  time  seemed  to 
threaten  the  extermination  of  evangelical  doctrine  through- 
out Christendom. 

After  the  death  of  Constantine,  his  son  Constantius  suc- 
ceeded to  the  government  of  the  Eastern  provinces,  and 
eventually  became  the  sovereign  of  the  whole  empire.  And 
as  he,  his  empress,  and  his  whole  court,  were  Arians,  he 
forthwith  used  all  his  influence,  as  the  head  of  the  church, 
to  exterminate,  as  far  as  possible,  evangelical  doctrine  ;^  and 
the  whole  world  groaned  and  wondered,  says  St.  Jerome, 
to  find  itself  Arian.'*  The  tyranny  of  Theodosius  restored 
the  orthodoxy  of  the  churches,  but  could  not  revive  their 
piety  ;^  and  from  that  time,  in  union  with  the  State,  they 
continued  to  be  so  corrupt,  that  at  length  the  profligacy, 

*  Mosheim,  cent.  iv.  part  ii.  chap.  3,  sect,  3.  ^  lb.  sect.  17. 

3  lb.  chap.  5,  sect.  14.      *  Waddington,  p.  98.       ^  lb.  p.  99. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  41 

covetousness,  fraud,  and  arrogance  of  the  clergy  generally, 
from  the  pope  to  the  obscurest  monk,  so  revolted  the  con- 
science and  the  common  sense  of  Europe,  that  in  the  sixteenth 
century  it  burst  from  this  oppressive  and  degrading  yoke. 

The  nature  of  the  relation  between  the  potentate  and 
the  priest  during  this  period  was  frequently  illustrated  by 
incidents  like  the  following.  Pepin,  who  was  mayor  of  the 
palace  to  Childeric  III.,  king  of  France,  having  formed  the 
design  of  dethroning  his  sovereign,  assembled  the  states  of 
the  realm,  a.d.  751,  to  whom  he  proposed  that  violent 
measure.  They  voted  that  the  bishop  of  Rome  must  be 
consulted  ;  embassadors  were,  therefore,  sent  by  Pepin  to 
demand  from  Pope  Zachary,  "  Whether  the  divine  law 
did  not  allow  a  warlike  people  to  dethrone  a  cowardly  and 
indolent  monarch,  and  to  substitute  in  his  place  one  more 
worthy  to  rule  ?"  Zachary 's  answer  was  favorable,  Chil- 
deric was  deposed,  and  Pepin  ascended  his  throne.  Pope 
Stephen  11.  confirmed  the  decision  of  Zachary,  and  want- 
ing the  aid  of  Pepin  against  the  Lombards,  paid  him  a 
visit,  A.D.  754,  when  he  released  him  from  his  oath  of 
allegiance  to  Childeric,  annointed  him,  and  crow^ied  him.^ 

But  it  would  have  been  happy  had  the  union  between 
the  secular  and  ecclesiastical  powers  been  productive  only 
of  such  occasional  specimens  of  villainy  on  either  side  ;  but 
alas  I  for  many  centuries  before  the  Reformation,  it  univer- 
sally and  constantly  checked  the  promulgation  of  the  Gospel. 
Had  there  been  no  such  union  in  the  nations  of  Europe, 
then  in  each  kingdom  peaceable  subjects  would  have  been 
protected  in  life  and  property,  whatever  their  creed  might 
have  been  ;  disturbers  of  the  peace  would  have  been  re- 
pressed ;  pious  and  enlightened  men  might  have  preached 
Christ  to  their  contemporaries  without  molestation ;  and 
evangelical  churches,  formed  through  their  ministry,  might 
have  prevented  the  spiritual  slavery,  superstition,  and  de- 
moralization, into  which  the  churches  so  generally  sank. 
But  through  the  union,  each  student  of  the  Bible,  with  any 
energy  of  character,  was  speedily  arrested  by  the  anathemas 
of  the  priesthood  ;  and  the  State  was  ever  ready  to  give 
^  Mosheim,  cent.  viii.  part  ii.  chap.  2,  sect.  7. 


42  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

those  anathemas  effect.  It  was  the  Church  which  con- 
demned Lord  Cobham  in  England,  John  Huss  in  Bohemia, 
and  Savonarola  at  Florence  ;  but  it  was  the  State  which 
consumed  each  of  them  in  the  flames.  Had  there  been  no 
union,  Cobham  would  still  have  led  on  the  Lollards  to  new 
successes  ;  Huss  would  have  still  lived  to  confirm  his  dis- 
ciples in  the  faith  ;  and  Savonarola  might  have  reformed 
Italy.  Devout  and  resolute  men  might  have  defied  the 
malice  of  the  priests,  if  the  State  had  not  placed  the  dun- 
geon and  the  thumbscrew,  the  rack  and  the  stake,  at  their 
disposal.  The  union,  therefore,  is  responsible  for  the  re- 
ligious ignorance  and  general  degradation  of  manners  which 
disgraced  the  fourteenth  and  the  fifteenth  centuries. 

When  the  reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century  struggled 
for  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  with  the  hierarchy  and  the 
priesthood,  the  union  was  still  their  greatest  enemy.  Un- 
checked by  the  governments  of  Europe,  the  Reformation 
would  have  been  nearly  universal.  In  Scotland  the  reform 
conquered  the  government  ;  but  in  England  the  union 
mutilated  the  reform  ;  and  in  France,  in  parts  of  Germany, 
in  Spain,  and  in  Italy,  overcame  and  crushed  it.  The  union 
alone  gave  teeth  and  claws  to  the  two  Inquisitions  of  Spain 
and  Italy  ;  and  without  its  aid  the  powerful  confraternity  of 
Loyola  would  have  been  baffled.  As  the  union  had  pre- 
viously corrupted  the  churches,  so  at  the  Reformation  it 
prevented  their  restoration  to  purity  of  discipline  and  to 
spiritual  life. 

Since  that  day  superstition  has  maintained  its  hateful 
ascendency  in  Europe  through  the  union  alone  ;  and  were 
it  removed,  France,  Roman  Catholic  Germany,  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  Italy,  might  be  pervaded  in  every  direction 
by  zealous  evangelists. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  has  not  been  less  disastrous  in 
Protestant  countries.  The  reformers,  who  had  a  gigantic 
foe  to  grapple  with,  were  too  happy  to  secure  the  aid  of 
their  rulers,  by  investing  them  with  almost  all  the  preroga- 
tives of  which  they  despoiled  the  pope.  Misled  by  the 
evangelical  zeal  of  some  leading  statesmen,  they  vainly 
hoped  that  Protestant  governments  would,   in   successive 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  43 

generations,  heartily  promote  the  progress  of  the  Gospel,  and 
consented  to  a  union  which  has  been  productive  of  endless 
mischief  Ever  since  the  miion  of  the  Church  of  England 
with  its  imperious  and  profligate  head,  Henry  VIII.,  who 
burned  alike  the  friends  of  the  pope  and  the  followers  of 
2ningle,  because  he  would  not  endure  that  men  should 
liave  any  other  religious  opinions  than  his  own,  the  State  in 
England,  with  scarcely  the  exception  of  one  brief  interval, 
has  been  steadily  opposed  to  evangelical  religion.  Queen 
Mary,  though  a  bigoted  Catholic,  continued  to  be  the  legal 
head  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  availed  herself  of  the 
supremacy  with  which  she  was  invested  by  the  union  to 
crush  the  English  Reformation. 

Her  death  afforded  no  unmixed  benefit  to  the  Protestant 
cause,  as  the  reader  may  judge  by  the  following  extracts 
from  Hallam's  "  Constitutional  History." 

The  two  statutes  enacted  in  the  first  year  of  Elizabeth, 
commonly  called  the  Acts  of  Supremacy  and  Uniformity, 
are  the  main  links  of  the  Anglican  Church  with  the  tem- 
poral constitution,  aiicl  establish  the  subordination  and 
dependeTicy  of  the  former  ;  the  first  abrogating  all  juris- 
diction and  legislative  power  of  ecclesiastical  riders,  except 
under  authority  of  the  Croicn  ;  and  the  second  prohibit- 
ing all  changes  of  rites  and  discipline  without  the  appro- 
bation of  Parliament.  It  was  the  constant  policy  of  this 
queen  to  maintain  her  prerogative.^  Elizabeth,  though 
resolute  against  submitting  to  the  papal  supremacy,  was 
not  so  averse  to  all  the  tenets  abjured  by  Protestants.  She 
reproved  a  divine  who  preached  against  the  real  presence, 
and  is  even  said  to  have  used  prayers  to  the  Virgin  ;  but 
her  great  struggle  with  the  reformers  was  about  images, 
and  particularly  the  crucifix,  Avhich  she  retained  with 
lighted  tapers  before  it  in  her  chapel.^ 

To  the  marriage  of  the  clergy  she  retained  so  great  an 
aversion,  that  she  would  never  consent  to  repeal  the  statute 
of  her  sister's  reign  against  it.^  Except  Archbishop  Parker, 
and  Cox,  bishop  of  Ely,  all  the  most  eminent  churchmen, 
such  as  Jewel,  Grindal,  Sandys  Nowell,  M-ere  in  favor  of 
1  Vol.  i.  p-  231.  2  lb.  p.  234.  ^  lb.  p.  236. 


44  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

leaving  off  the  surplice  and  what  were  called  the  popish 
ceremonies.  The  queen  alone  was  the  cause  of  retaining 
those  observances.^  On  refusing  to  wear  the  customary 
habits,  Sampson,  dean  of  Christ  Church,  was  deprived  of 
his  deaconry.2  Parker  obtained  from  the  queen  a  procla- 
mation peremptorily  requiring  conformity  in  the  use  of  the 
clerical  vestments  and  other  matters  of  discipline.  The 
London  ministers,  summoned  before  himself  and  their  bishop, 
Grindal,  were  called  upon  for  a  promise  to  comply  with  the 
legal  ceremonies,  which  thirty-seven  out  of  ninety-eight 
refused  to  make.  They  were,  in  consequence,  suspended 
from  their  ministry.  But  these,  unfortunately,  as  was  the 
case  in  all  this  reign,  were  the  most  conspicuous  both  for 
their  general  character  and  for  their  talent  in  preaching.^ 
The  Puritan  clergy,  after  being  excluded  from  their  bene- 
fices, might  still  claim  from  a  just  goverimient  a  peaceful 
toleration  of  their  particular  worship.  This  it  was  vain 
to  expect  from  the  queen's  arbitrary  spirit,  the  imperious 
humors  of  Parker,  and  that  total  disregard  of  the  rights 
of  conscience  which  was  common  to  all  parties  in  the  six- 
teenth century.  The  first  instance  of  actual  punishment 
inflicted  on  Protestant  dissenters  was  in  June  1567,  when 
a  company  of  more  than  one  hundred  were  seized  during 
their  religious  exercises  at  Plummers'  Hall,  and  fourteen 
or  fifteen  of  them  were  sent  to  prison.''  The  far  greater 
part  of  the  benefices  of  the  church  were  supplied  by  con- 
formists of  very  doubtful  sincerity,  who  would  resume  their 
mass-books  with  more  alacrity  than  they  had  cast  them 
aside.  ^ 

Burnet  says,  on  the  authority  of  the  visitors'  reports,  that 
out  of  9400  beneficed  clergymen,  not  more  than  about  two 
hundred  refused  to  conform  ;  and  he  proceeds,  "  If  a  prince 
of  another  religion  had  succeeded,  they  had  probably  turned 
about  again  as  nimbly  as  they  had  done  before  in  Queen 
Mary's  days."  A  great  part  of  the  clergy  in  the  first  part 
of  this  reign  are  said  to  have  been  sunk  in  superstition  and 
looseness  of  living.^      Such  a  deficiency  of  Protestant  clergy 

1  Vol.  i.  p.  238.  ^  lb.  p.  244.  ^  lb.  p.  245. 

*  lb.  p.  247.  ®  lb.  p.  248.  ^  lb.  p.  248,  note. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  45 

had  been  experienced  at  the  queen's  accession,  that  for 
several  years  it  was  a  common  practice  to  appoint  laymen, 
usually  mechanics,  to  read  the  service  in  vacant  churches.^ 
Yet  the  archbishop  continued  to  harass  the  Puritan  minis- 
ters, suppressing  their  books,  silencing  them  in  churches, 
persecuting  them  in  private  meetings.  Plain  citizens,  for 
listening  to  their  sermons,  were  dragged  before  the  high 
commission,  and  unprisoned  upon  any  refusal  to  conform.^ 

The  clergy  in  several  dioceses  set  up,  with  encourage- 
ment from  their  superiors,  a  certain  religious  exercise  called 
prophesyings.  They  met  at  appointed  times  to  expound 
and  discuss  together  particular  texts  of  Scripture,  under  the 
presidency  of  a  moderator  appointed  by  the  bishop.  The 
queen  entirely  disliked  them,  and  directed  Parker  to  put 
them  down.      Prophesyings  were  now  put  down.^ 

Grindal,  who  succeeded  Parker,  wished  to  revive  them. 
The  queen,  however,  insisted  both  that  the  prophesyings 
should  be  discontinued  and  that  fewer  licenses  for  preaching 
should  be  granted.  Grindal  refusing  to  comply  with  this 
injunction,  was  sequestered  from  the  exercise  of  his  jurisdic- 
tion for  about  five  years  ;  and  the  queen,  by  circular  letters 
to  the  bishops,  commanded  them  to  put  an  end  to  the 
prophesyings,  which  were  never  afterward  renewed.^  As 
soon  as  Whitgift  succeeded  to  the  primacy,  he  promulgated 
articles  for  the  observance  of  discipline  ;  one  of  which 
prohibited  all  preaching,  reading,  or  catechising  in  private 
houses,  whereto  any  not  of  the  same  family  should  resort. 
But  that  which  excited  the  loudest  complaints  was  the 
subscription  to  three  points — the  queen's  supremacy,  the 
lawfulness  of  the  common  prayer,  and  the  truth  of  the 
whole  thirty-nine  articles,  exacted  from  every  minister  of 
the  church.^  The  kingdom  resounded  with  the  clamor  of 
those  who  were  suspended  or  deprived  of  their  benefices, 
and  of  their  numerous  abettors.  But,  secure  of  the  queen's 
support,  Whitgift  relented  not  a  jot  of  his  resolution. ^ 

In  1583,  the  High  Commission  Court  was  erected,  con- 
sisting of  forty-four  commissioners,  of  whom  twelve  were 

1  Vol.  i.  p.  249.  2  lb.  p.  262.         ""  lb.  pp.  266,  267. 

*  lb.  pp.  267,  268.        ">  lb.  p.  269.         ^  lb.  pp.  269,  270,  27 1 . 


46  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

bishops,  several  were  privy-councilors,  and  the  rest  clergy- 
men or  civilians.  Power  was  given  to  any  three  commis- 
sioners, of  whom  one  must  be  a  bishop,  to  punish  all  persons 
absent  from  church,  to  visit  and  reform  heresies  and  schisms 
according  to  law,  to  deprive  all  beneficed  persons  holding 
any  doctrine  contrary  to  the  thirty-nine  articles,  etc.,  etc. 
Master  of  such  tremendous  machinery,  the  archbishop  pro- 
ceeded to  tender  the  oath  ex  officio  to  such  of  the  clergy  as 
were  surmised  to  harbor  a  spirit  of  puritanical  disaffection. 
This  procedure  consisted  in  a  series  of  interrogations,  so 
comprehensive  as  to  embrace  the  whole  scope  of  clerical 
uniformity,  yet  so  precise  and  minute  as  to  leave  no  room 
for  evasion,  to  which  the  suspected  party  was  bound  to 
answer  upon  oath.^  Pamphlets,  chiefly  anonymous,  were 
rapidly  circulated  throughout  the  kingdom,  inveighing 
against  the  prelacy.  Of  these  libels,  the  most  famous 
went  under  the  name  of  Martin  Mar-prelate.  ^  Strong 
suspicions  having  fallen  on  Penry,  a  young  Welshman,  he 
was  tried  for  another  pamphlet  containing  some  sharp  re- 
flections on  the  queen  herself,  and  M^as  executed.^  Udal, 
a  puritan  minister,  fell  into  the  grasp  of  the  same  statute 
for  an  alleged  libel  on  the  bishops.  His  trial,  like  most 
other  political  trials  of  the  age,  disgraces  the  name  of 
English  justice.  It  consisted  mainly  in  a  pitiful  attempt 
by  the  court  to  entrap  him  into  a  confession  that  the  im- 
puted libel  was  of  his  writing,  as  to  which  their  proof  w^as 
deficient.  He  avoided  the  snare,  but  was  convicted,  and 
died  of  the  effects  of  confinement.^  Cartwright,  with 
several  of  his  sect,  were  even  summoned  before  the  eccle- 
siastical commission,  where,  refusing  to  inculpate  them- 
selves by  taking  the  oath  ex  officio,  they  were  committed 
to  the  Fleet. ^  Morice,  attorney  of  the  court  of  wards, 
having  attacked  the  legality  of  this  oath  ex  officio  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  brought  in  a  bill  to  take  it  away, 
the  queen  put  a  stop  to  the  proceeding  ;  and  Morice  lay 
some  time  in  prison  for  his  boldness.*^  In  1593,  the  court 
procured  an  act  which  sentenced  to  imprisonment  any  person 

1  Vol.  i.  pp.  271,  272,  273.  ^  jb.  p^  277.  ""  lb.  p.  278. 

*  lb.  p.  279.  ^  lb.  p.  280.  «  lb.  p.  287. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  47 

above  the  age  of  sixteen  who  should  forbear  for  the  space  of  a 
month  to  repair  to  some  chnrch,  until  he  should  make  such 
open  declaration  of  conformity  as  the  act  appoints.  Those 
who  refused  to  submit  to  these  conditions  were  to  abjure 
the  realm  ;  and  if  they  should  return  without  the  queen's 
license,  to  suffer  death  as  felons,^  Multitudes  fled  to 
Holland  from  the  rigor  of  the  bishops  in  enforcing  this 
statute.^  Yet,  after  forty  years  of  constantly  aggravated 
molestation  of  the  non-conforming  clergy,  their  numbers 
were  become  greater,  their  popularity  more  deeply  rooted, 
their  enmity  to  the  established  order  more  irreconcilable.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  the  prelates  of  the  English  Church, 
while  they  inflicted  so  many  severities  on  others,  had  not 
always  cause  to  exult  in  their  own  condition.  Cecil  sur- 
rounded his  mansion-house  at  Burleigh  with  estates  once 
belonging  to  the  see  of  Peterborough.  Hatton  built  his 
house  in  Holborn  on  the  Bishop  of  Ely's  garden;  and  Cox, 
on  making  resistance  to  this  spoliation,  received  the  follow- 
ing letter  from  the  queen  : — "  Proud  prelate,  you  know 
what  you  were  before  I  made  you  what  you  are.  If  you 
do  not  immediately  comply  with  my  request,  by  God,  I 
will  unfrock  you. — Elizabeth."  After  his  death  she  kept 
the  see  vacant  eighteen  years.*  She  suspended  Fletcher, 
bishop  of  London,  of  her  own  authority,  only  for  marrying 
"  a  fine  lady  and  a  widow;"  and  Aylmer  having  preached 
too  vehemently  against  female  vanity  in  dress,  which  came 
home  to  the  queen's  conscience,  she  told  her  ladies  that  if 
the  bishop  held  more  discourse  on  such  matters  she  would 
fit  him  for  heaven,  but  he  should  walk  thither  without  a 
staff,  and  leave  his  mantle  behind  him.  And  in  her  speech 
to  Parliament,  on  closing  the  session  of  1584,  when  many 
complaints  against  the  rulers  of  the  church  had  rung  in 
her  ears,  she  told  the  bishops  that  if  they  did  not  amend 
what  was  wrong,  she  meant  to  depose  them.^ 

This  sketch  is  sufficient  to  show  that  throughout  this 
reign  the  bishops  and  clergy  were  kept  by  the  union  in  a 
state  of  servile  subjection  to  the  Crown ;    that  the  most 

'  Vol.  i.  p.  289.  ""  lb.  p.  290.  ^  lb.  p.  306. 

^  lb.  p.  304.  "•  lb.  p.  305. 


48  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

pious  persons  in  the  nation  were  exposed  by  it  to  severe 
persecution,  and  that  it  steadily  repressed  evangeUcal 
rehgion. 

The  accession  of  James  I.  to  the  supremacy,  in  virtue 
of  the  union,  brought  no  advantage  to  evangehcal  rehgion. 
On  his  way  to  London,  the  puritan  clergy  presented  to  him 
a  petition,  signed  by  825  ministers  from  twenty-five  coun- 
ties, praying  for  the  removal  of  certain  abuses  from  the 
church.^  The  puritans  seem  to  have  flattered  themselves 
that  he  would  favor  their  sect,  on  the  credit  of  some  strong 
assertions  he  had  occasionally  made  of  his  adherence  to  the 
Scotch  kirk.  James,  however,  was  all  his  life  rather  a 
bold  liar  than  a  good  dissembler. ^  He  showed  no  disposi- 
tion to  treat  these  petitioners  with  favor.  His  measures 
toward  the  nonconformist  party  had  evidently  been  resolved 
upon  before  he  summoned  a  few  of  their  divines  to  the 
famous  conference  at  Hampton  Court.  In  the  accounts 
that  we  read  of  this  meeting,  we  are  alternately  struck 
with  wonder  at  the  indecent  and  partial  behavior  of  the 
king,  and  at  the  abject  baseness  of  the  bishops,  mixed,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  servile  natures,  with  insolence  toward 
their  opponents.^  While  Dr.  Raynolds  was  speaking,  the 
king  broke  out  into  a  flame — "  They  were  aiming,"  he 
said,  "  at  a  Scots  presbytery,  which  agrees  with  monarchy 
as  well  as  God  and  the  devil.  Then  Jack,  and  Tom,  and 
Will,  and  Dick,  shall  meet,  and  at  their  pleasure  censure 
both  me  and  my  council ;  therefore,  pray  stay  one  seven 
years  before  you  demand  that  of  me,  and  if  then  you  find 
me  pursy  and  fat,  and  my  windpipe  stuffed,  I  will,  perhaps, 
hearken  to  you,  for  let  that  government  be  up,  and  I  am 
sure  I  shall  be  kept  in  breath  ;  but  till  you  find  I  grow 
lazy,  pray  let  that  alone.  Well,  Doctor,  have  you  any 
thing  else  to  offer  ?"  "  No  more,  if  it  please  your  majes- 
ty." "If  this  be  all  your  party  have  to  say,  I  will  make 
them  conform,  or  I  will  hurry  them  out  of  this  land,  or 
else  worse. "^  Bishop  Bancroft  fell  on  his  knees  and  said, 
'« I  protest  my  heart  melteth  for  joy  that  Almighty  God, 

^  Hallam,  i.  p.  403.  ^  lb.  p.  404.  »  lb. 

*  Neal's  "  History  of  the  Puritans,"  part  ii.  chap.  i. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  49 

of  his  singular  mercy,  has  given  us  such  a  king  as  since 
Christ's  time  has  not  been."  "  Never,"  said  Chancellor 
Egerton,  "  have  I  seen  the  king  and  the  priest  so  fully 
united  in  one  person."^  When  the  king  said  he  approved 
of  the  wisdom  of  the  law  in  making  the  oath  ex  officio,  the 
archbishop  was  so  transported  as  to  cry  out,  "Undoubtedly 
your  majesty  speaks  by  the  special  assistance  of  God's 
Spirit.  "2  Mr.  Chadderton  fell  on  his  knees,  and  humbly 
prayed  that  the  surplice  and  cross  might  not  be  urged  on 
some  godly  ministers  in  Lancashire  ;  but  the  king  replied, 
with  a  stern  countenance,  "  I  will  have  none  of  this  argu- 
ing, therefore  let  them  conform,  and  that  quickly  too,  or 
they  shall  hear  of  it."^  The  king  soon  afterward  put  forth 
a  proclamation,  requiring  all  ecclesiastical  and  civil  officers 
to  do  their  duty,  by  enforcing  conformity.^  He  had  alrea- 
dy strictly  enjoined  the  bishops  to  proceed  against  all  the 
clergy  who  did  not  observe  the  prescribed  order — a  com- 
mand which  Bancroft,  who  about  this  time  followed  Whit- 
gift  in  the  primacy,  did  not  wait  to  have  repeated.^  But 
the  most  enormous  outrage  on  the  civil  rights  of  these 
men,  was  the  commitment  to  prison  of  ten  among  those 
who  had  presented  the  millenary  petition;  the  judges  hav^ 
ing  declared  in  the  Star-chamber  that  it  was  an  offense 
finable  at  discretion,  and  very  near  to  treason  and  felony.^ 
The  doctrine  of  the  king's  absolute  power  beyond  the  law, 
had  become  current  with  all  who  sought  his  favor,  and 
especially  with  the  high-church  party.''  The  real  aim  of 
the  clergy,  in  thus  enormously  enhancing  the  pretensions 
of  the  crown,  was  to  gain  its  sanction  and  support  for  their 
own.  Schemes  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  hardly  less 
extensive  than  had  warmed  the  imagination  of  Becket, 
now  floated  before  the  eyes  of  Banproft.^  Dr.  Cowell,  iu 
a  law-dictionary,  dedicated  to  Bancroft,  said,  under  the 
title  king,  "He  is  above  the  law  by  his  absolute  power, 
and  though,  for  the  better  and  equal  course  in  making 
laws,  he  do  admit  the  three  estates  into  council,  yet  this, 

^  Neal's  "History  of  the  Puritans,"  part  ii.  chap.  \.  p.  17. 
«  lb.  p.  18.       ^  lb.  ^  Hallam,  vol.  ii.  p.  405. 

fi  lb.  6  lb.  p,  406.  -  lb.  p.  438.        «  lb.  p,  440. 

c 


50  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

in  divers  learned  men's  opinion,  is  not  of  constraint,  but  by 
his  own  benignity,  or  by  reason  of  the  promise  made  upon 
oath  at  the  time  of  his  coronation.  And  though  at  his 
coronation  he  took  an  oath  not  to  alter  the  laws  of  the 
land,  yet,  this  oath  notwithstanding,  he  may  alter  or  sus- 
pend any  particular  law  that  seemeth  hurtful  to  the  public 
estate."  ^  Such  monstrous  positions,  from  the  mouth  of  a 
man  of  learning,  who  was  surmised  to  have  been  instigat- 
ed, as  well  as  patronized,  by  the  archbishop,  and  of  whose 
book  the  king  was  reported  to  have  spoken  in  terms  of 
eulogy,  gave  very  just  scandal  to  the  House  of  Commons.^ 
About  this  time  was  published,  with  the  assent  of  the 
king,  the  book  of  Canons,  which  is  still  binding  on  the 
clergy.  Canon  fourth  enacts,  that  whoever  shall  affirm 
that  the  Book  of  Common-prayer  containeth  any  thing  in  it 
that  is  repugnant  to  the  Scriptures,  shall  be  excommunicat- 
ed. The  fifth  excommunicates  any  person  who  asserts 
that  any  of  the  thirty-nine  articles  are,  in  any  part,  super- 
stitious or  erroneous,  or  such  as  he  may  not  with  a  good 
conscience  subscribe  unto.  The  eighth  excommunicates 
any  one  who  affirms  that  the  form  and  manner  of  making 
and  consecrating  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  containeth 
any  thing  in  it  repugnant  to  the  word  of  God.  The  elev- 
enth excommunicates  those  who  affirm  that  nonconformist 
congregations  may  rightly  challenge  to  themselves  the 
name  of  true  and  lawful  churches.  By  excommunication 
the  puritans  were  rendered  incapable  of  suing  for  their 
debts,  were  liable  to  imprisonment  for  life,  were  denied 
Christian  burial,  and  as  far  as  the  church  could  inflict  it, 
even  excluded  from  heaven.^  Archbishop  Bancroft  now 
revived  the  persecution  of  the  puritans,  by  enforcing  the 
strict  observance  of  the  festivals  of  the  church,  reviving  the 
use  of  copes,  surplices,  caps,  hoods,  etc.  By  these  methods 
of  severity,  above  three  hundred  puritan  ministers  were 
silenced  or  deprived ;  some  of  whom  were  excommunicated 
and  cast  into  prison ;  others  were  forced  to  leave  the  coun- 
try.*    As   another   mode   of  insulting   and  harassing  the 

^  Hallam,  vol.  ii.  p.  442.  «  jb,  p  443 

^  Neal,  part  ii.  p.  32.  ■•  lb.  pp.  35,  40. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  61 

evangelical  clergy,  the  king  published  a  declaration  to  be 
read  in  churches,  permitting  all  lawful  recreations  on  Sun- 
day after  divine  service,  such  as  dancing,  archery.  May- 
games,  morrice-dances,  and  other  usual  sports.^  But  this 
declaration  was  not  enforced  till  the  following  reign.  The 
court  of  James  I.  was  incomparably  the  most  disgraceful 
scene  of  profligacy  which  this  country  has  ever  witnessed, 
equal  to  that  of  Charles  IT.  in  the  laxity  of  female  virtue, 
and  without  any  sort  of  parallel  in  some  other  respects. 
Gross  drunkenness  is  imputed  to  some  of  the  ladies  who 
acted  in  the  court  pageants.^  According  to  the  "  Pictorial 
History  of  England,"  king  James  had  as  little  real  religion 
of  any  kind  as  Elizabeth  herself.  In  the  notion  of  both 
the  one  and  the  other  the  Church  was  an  engine  of  State, 
and  nothing  else  ;  and  in  this  feeling  both  were  naturally 
much  more  inclined  toward  popery  than  puritanism.^  By 
degrees  he  gave  himself  up  to  all  kinds  of  licentiousness. 
His  language  was  obscene,  he  was  a  profane  swearer,  and 
would  often  be  drunk.  He  broke  through  all  the  laws  of 
the  land,  and  was  as  absolute  a  tyrant  as  his  want  of  cour- 
age would  admit ;  and  was,  in  the  opmion  of  Bishop  Bur- 
net, "  the  scorn  of  his  age,  a  mere  pedant,  without  judg- 
ment, courage,  or  steadiness,  his  reign  being  a  continued 
course  of  mean  practices."'*  To  such  hands  did  the  union 
commit  the  government  of  the  churches  of  Christ  in  this 
country. 

It  was  very  unfortunate  for  Charles  I.,  the  next  head 
of  the  Church,  that  the  chosen  friend  and  companion  of 
his  youth  was  one  of  the  most  profligate  men  of  his  day. 
The  following  is  the  account  given  of  his  friendship,  by 
Brodie.  James  I.,  from  his  immoderate  attachment  to 
field-sports,  spent  much  of  his  time  at  Newmarket.  There 
he  went  to  the  theater  to  see  a  farce  called  "  Ignoramus," 
in  ridicule  of  the  common  law,  for  which  he  embraced 
every  opportunity  of  expressing  contempt,  because  it  lim- 
ited his  prerogative  ;    it  being  part  of  his  doctrine  that 

^  Hallam,  vol.  i.  p.  545.  '  lb.  p.  452,  note. 

^  Pictorial  History  of  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  458. 

"*  Neal,  part  ii.  p.  129.  .*  ^ -r  . 


52  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

"  the  king  is  to  settle  the  law  of  God,  and  his  judges  to 
interpret  the  law  of  the  king."  At  the  theater  he  saw 
young  George  Villiers,  who  immediately  becoming  his 
favorite,  was,  in  a  short  time,  created  a  baron,  a  viscount, 
an  earl,  a  marquis,  lord  high  admiral  of  England,  lord 
warden  of  the  cinque  ports,  and  master  of  the  horse  ;  and 
disposed  of  all  the  offices  of  the  kingdom  without  a  rival.  ^ 
It  is  humiliating  to  think  that  this  minion's  heels  were 
tracked  with  spaniel-like  observance  by  the  chief  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  nobility,  who  were  content  to  be  called 
his  creatures,  professing  an  attachment  bordering  on  adora- 
tion.^ It  is  impossible  to  read  Heylin's  "  Life  of  Laud" 
and  Laud's  Diary,  &c.,  &:c.,  without  insuperable  loathing.^ 
As  neither  talents  nor  virtue  had  raised  Villiers,  so  he  had 
little  of  either,  though  more  of  the  first  than  the  last  ;  and 
as  his  heart  was  daily  corrupted,  so  was  his  judgment  per- 
verted by  his  situation.*  To  such  a  height  of  presumption 
was  this  minion  grown,  that  he  not  only  used  language  to 
Charles  now  only  to  be  found  in  the  lowest  class  of  the 
community,  but  was  once  very  near  striking  him.^  Yet, 
to  the  general  astonishment,  he  no  sooner  stooped  to  court 
his  highness,  than  he  acquired  oA^er  him  the  most  uncon- 
trolled ascendency.^  Such  a  friendship  could  not  be  favor- 
able to  the  morals  of  Charles,  and  he  is  described  by  Mil- 
ton to  have  been  at  this  period  of  his  life  Jlagitiis  omnibus 
coopertum,  loaded  with  every  vice.''^  This  was  a  bad 
preparation  for  the  supreme  government  of  the  churches  of 
Christ  in  this  country. 

The  next  step  in  his  history  was  his  union  with  Henri- 
etta Maria,  sister  of  Louis  XIII.,  then  king  of  France,  to 
whom  he  was  married  by  proxy  before  his  father  was 
buried.  She  arrived  at  Dover,  June  13,  1625,  and  brought 
with  her  a  long  train  of  priests,  for  whose  devotion  a  chapel 
was  fitted  up  in  the  king's  house  at  St.  James's.^      The 

'  Brodie,  "History  of  the  British  Empire,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  12-19. 
a  lb.  p.  19.  =*  lb.  p.  20.  ^  lb. 

6  lb.  p.  21.  «  lb.  p.  22. 

7  lb.  p.  45,  note,  .where  proofs  of  this  fact  are  adduced. 
»  Neal,  ii.  p.  133. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  53 

queen,  by  degrees,  obtained  a  plenitude  of  power  over  the 
king.  His  majesty  held  her  in  perfect  adoration,  and  would 
do  nothing  without  her.^  The  king's  match  with  this  lady 
was  a  greater  judgment  to  the  nation  than  the  plague, 
which  then  raged  in  the  land  :  for,  considering  the  malig- 
nity of  the  popish  religion,  the  influence  of  the  queen  over 
her  husband,  and  the  share  she  must  needs  have  in  the 
education  of  her  children,  it  was  easy  to  foresee  it  might 
prove  very  fatal  to  our  English  prince  and  people,  and  lay 
in  a  vengeance  to  future  generations.^  Thus  the  education 
of  Charles  for  the  government  of  the  churches  of  Christ, 
which  was  begun  by  a  profligate  favorite,  was  continued 
by  a  Roman  Catholic  wife. 

The  clergy  whom  Charles  most  trusted  were  little  likely 
to  counteract  these  influences.  The  bishops  were  many 
of  therai  gross  sycophants  of  Buckingham.  Mede  says,  "  I 
am  sorry  to  hear  they  (the  bishops)  are  so  habituated  to 
flattery  that  they  seem  not  to  know  of  any  other  duty  that 
belongs  to  them."^  Two  sermons,  by  Sibthorp  and  Main- 
waring,  excited  particular  attention.  These  men,  eager 
for  preferment,  which  they  knew  the  readiest  method  to 
attain,  taught  that  the  king  might  take  the  subjects' 
money  at  his  pleasure,  and  that  no  one  might  refuse  his 
demand  on  penalty  of  damnation.  "Parliaments,"  said 
Mainwaring,  "  were  not  ordained  to  contribute  any  right 
to  the  king,  but  for  the  more  equal  imposing  and  more  easy 
exacting  of  that  which  unto  kings  doth  appertain  by  natural 
and  original  law  and  justice  as  their  proper  inheritance 
annexed  to  their  imperial  crowns  from  their  birth."  For 
refusing  to  license  Sibthorp's  sermon.  Archbishop  Abbot 
was  suspended  from  the  exercise  of  his  jurisdiction  by  the 
king,  who  gave  Sibthorp  some  preferment ;  and  Mainwar- 
ing, who  was  impeached  by  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of  £1000,  and  to  be  suspended 
for  three  years  from  his  ministry,  was  almost  immediately 
pardoned  by  the  king,  and  afterward  made  a  bishop.* 

But  the  person  who  proved  in  a  far  more  eminent  degree 

^  Clarendon.  "^  Bishop  Kennet. 

»  Hallam,  vol.  i.  p.  570,  note.  ^  lb.  pp.  569,  570. 


54  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

than  any  other  individual  the  evil  genius  of  this  unhappy 
sovereign  was  Laud.  His  talents  seem  to  have  been  hardly 
above  mediocrity.  There  can  not  be  a  more  contemptible 
work  than  his  Diary.  But  having  courted  the  favor  of 
Buckingham,  he  rose  to  the  see  of  Canterbury  on  Abbot's 
death,  in  1633.^  He  had  placed  before  his  eyes  the  ag- 
grandizement first  of  the  church  and  next  of  the  royal 
prerogative  as  his  end  and  aim  in  every  action.  "  Though 
not  destitute  of  religion,"  says  Hallam,  "  it  was  so  subord- 
inate to  worldly  interest,  and  so  blended  with  pride,  that 
he  became  an  intolerant  persecutor  of  the  puritan  clergy  ; 
and  being  subject,  as  his  friends  call  it,  to  some  infirmities 
of  temper — that  is,  choleric,  vindictive,  harsh,  and  even 
cruel,  to  a  great  degree,  he  not  only  took  a  prominent  share 
in  the  severities  of  the  Star-chamber,  but,  as  his  corres- 
pondence shows,  perpetually  lamented  that  he  was  restrained 
from  going  further  lengths."^  Even  at  college  he  was 
suspected  of  popery  ;  to  such  height  did  he  carry  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  clergy,  with  all  the  tenets  of  the  Romish 
religion,  except  the  mere  supremacy  of  the  pope.  The  use 
of  images,  the  tutelar  protection  of  saints  and  angels,  the 
invocation  of  saints,  the  adoration  of  the  altar,  the  real 
presence,  auricular  confession,  and  absolution,  were  among 
his  favorite  principles.^  In  1605  he  filled  the  office  of 
chaplain  to  the  Earl  of  Devonshire,  who  had  induced  Lady 
Rich  to  desert  her  husband  and  children.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances Laud  was  base  enough  to  sanction  the  adultery 
by  performing  for  them  the  marriage  ceremony.^  Placed 
at  the  head  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  government,  he 
betrayed  all  the  insolence  of  a  little  mind  intoxicated  with 
undeserved  prosperity.  He  assumed  the  state  of  a  prince, 
and  by  the  ridiculous  haughtiness  of  his  manners  disgusted 
men  of  rank  and  influence.^  He  aggravated  the  invidious- 
ness  of  his  situation,  and  gave  an  astonishing  proof  of  his 
influence  by  placing  Juxon,  bishop  of  London,  a  creature 
of  his  own,  in  the  greatest  of  all  posts,  that  of  lord  high- 
treasurer.^ 

1  Hallam,  vol.  ii.  p.  53.       ^  j^  p_  53,        3  Brodie,  vol.  ii.  p.  238. 
<  lb.  p.  240.  ^  lb.  p.  247.      ^  Hallam,  vol.  ii.  p.  55. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  55 

Church  affairs  were  an  early  subject  of  consideration  in 
Charles'  cabinet.  Bishop  Laud,  who  in  the  late  king's 
time  had  delivered  to  the  duke  a  little  book  about  doctrinal 
Puritanism,  now  also  gave  him  a  schedule  containing  the 
names  of  ecclesiastics  under  the  letters  O  and  P ;  O  stand- 
ing for  orthodox,  P  for  puritan,  in  order  that  it  might  be 
shown  to  the  king,  and  preferment,  of  course,  confined  to 
the  former.  Under  the  puritan  party  were  comprehended 
in  the  court  register  all  who  refused  to  subscribe  to  every 
doctrinal  innovation  of  the  king  and  the  bishops  ;  together 
with  those  that  were  known  merely  as  defenders  of  the 
political  rights  of  the  people.^  But  the  puritans  were 
doomed  throughout  this  reign  to  much  worse  evils  than 
the  loss  of  preferment.  Leighton,  a  Scotch  divine,  having 
published  an  angry  libel  against  the  hierarchy,  was  sen- 
tenced to  be  publicly  whipped  at  Westminster  and  set  in 
the  pillory,  to  have  one  side  of  his  nose  slit,  one  ear  cut  off, 
and  one  side  of  his  cheek  branded  with  a  hot  iron  ;  to  have 
the  whole  of  this  repeated  the  next  week  at  Cheapside,  and 
to  suffer  perpetual  imprisonment  in  the  Fleet.  Lilburne, 
"^or  dispersing  pamphlets  against  the  bishops,  was  whipped 
4-om  the  Fleet  prison  to  Westminster,  then  set  in  the  pil- 
lory, and  treated  afterward  with  great  cruelty.  Prynne,  a 
lawyer  of  uncommon  erudition,  and  a  zealous  puritan,  had 
printed  a  bulky  volume,  called  "  Histriomastix,"  full  of  in- 
vectives against  the  theater.  This  was  construed  to  be 
seditious,  and  the  Star-chamber  adjudged  him  to  stand 
twice  in  the  pillory,  to  be  branded  in  the  forehead,  to  lose 
both  his  ears,  to  pay  a  fine  of  £5000,  and  to  suffer  per- 
petual imprisonment.  The  dogged  puritan  employed  the 
leisure  of  a  jail  in  writing  a  fresh  libel  against  the  hierarchy. 
For  this,  Mdth  two  other  delinquents  of  the  same  class, 
Burton,  a  divine,  and  Bastwick,  a  physician,  he  stood  again 
at  the  bar  of  that  terrible  tribunal.  Prynne  lost  the  re- 
mainder of  his  ears  in  the  pillory  ;  and  the  punishment  Avas 
inflicted  on  them  all  with  extreme  and  designed  cruelty  ; 
which  they  endured,  as  martyrs  always  endure  suffering, 
so  heroically,  as  to  excite  a  deep  impression  of  sympathy  and 
^  Hallam,  vol.  ii.  p.  50. 


56  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

resentment  in  the  assembled  multitude.  They  were  sen- 
tenced to  perpetual  confinement  in  distant  prisons.^  Be- 
sides reviving  the  prosecutions  for  non-conformity  in  their 
utmost  strictness,  wherein  many  of  the  other  bishops  vied 
with  their  primate,  he  most  injudiciously — not  to  say 
wickedly — endeavored,  by  innovations  of  his  owti  and  by 
exciting  alarms  in  the  susceptible  consciences  of  pious  men, 
to  raise  up  new  victims  whom  he  might  oppress.  Those 
who  made  any  difficulties  alDout  his  novel  ceremonies,  or 
who  preached  on  the  Calvinistic  side,  were  harassed  by 
the  High  Commission  Court  as  if  they  had  been  actual 
schismatics.  The  most  obnoxious  of  these  prosecutions 
were  for  refusing  to  read  what  was  called  the  "  Book  of 
Sports" — a  proclamation  that  a  great  variety  of  pastimes 
might  be  used  on  Sundays  after  evening  service.^  The 
precise  clergy  refused,  in  general,  to  comply  with  the  re- 
quisition, and  were  suspended  or  deprived  in  consequence. 
Thirty  of  them  were  excommunicated  in  the  diocese  of 
Norwich.^  The  resolution  so  evidently  taken  by  the  court 
to  admit  of  no  half  conformity,  especially  after  Laud  had 
obtained  an  unlimited  sway  over  the  king's  mind,  convinced 
the  puritans  that  England  could  no  longer  afford  them  an 
asylum.  Multitudes  now  emigrated  to  America.  At  length 
men  of  a  higher  rank  than  the  first  colonists,  now  became 
hopeless  alike  of  the  civil  and  religious  liberties  of  England, 
men  of  capacious  and  commanding  minds,  formed  to  be  the 
legislators  and  generals  of  an  infant  republic — the  wise  and 
cautious  Lord  Say,  the  brave,  open,  and  enthusiastic  Lord 
Brooke,  Sir  Arthur  Haslerig,  Hampden,  ashamed  of  a  coun- 
try for  whose  rights  he  had  fought  alone,  Cromwell,  pant- 
ing with  energies  that  he  could  neither  control  nor  explain, 
and  whose  unconquerable  iire  was  still  wrapped  in  smoke 
to  every  eye  but  that  of  his  kinsman  Hampden — were  pre- 
paring to  embark  for  America,  M-hen  Laud,  for  his  own  and 
his  master's  curse,  procured  an  order  of  council  to  stop  their 
departure.^  The  Church  now  made  rapid  progress  toAvard 
Romanism.      Pictures  were  set  up  or  repaired  ;   the  com- 

^  Hallam,  vol.  ii.  pp.  50-52.  2  jb.  p.  76. 

'  lb.  p.  77.  "  lb.  pp.  79,  80. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  57 

munion-table  took  the  name  and  position  of  an  altar  ;  it  was 
sometimes  made  of  stone  ;  obeisances  were  made  to  it ;  the 
crucifix  was  sometimes  placed  upon  it ;  the  dress  of  the 
officiating  priests  became  more  gaudy  ;  churches  were  con- 
secrated with  strange  and  mystical  pageantry.  The  doc- 
trine of  a  real  presence,  distinguishable  only  by  vagueness 
of  definition  from  that  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  was  gener- 
ally held.  Montagu,  bishop  of  Chichester,  went  a  consid- 
erable length  toward  admitting  the  invocation  of  saints  ; 
prayers  for  the  dead  were  vindicated  by  many  :  in  fact, 
there  was  hardly  any  distinctive  opinion  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  which  had  not  its  abettors  among  the  bishops,  or 
those  who  wrote  under  their  patronage  ;  ^  and  we  now 
know  that  the  views  of  the  party  in  the  English  Church 
went  almost  to  an  entire  dereliction  of  the  Protestant  doc- 
trine.^ 

Thus  the  union,  during  the  first  three  reigns  after  the 
Reformation,  led  to  the  systematic  persecution  of  the  most 
zealous  servants  of  Christ  in  the  country,  and  conducted 
the  churches  within  the  EstabUshment  under  the  regal 
episcopate  far  back  into  the  slough  of  false  doctrine,  super- 
stition, bigotry,  and  spiritual  torpor,  from  which  the  re- 
formers had  nobly  struggled  to  extricate  them. 

Of  the  two  sovereigns  who,  after  Charles  I.,  successively 
exercised  the  regal  episcopate  conferred  on  them  by  the 
union,  I  need  say  very  little.  The  character  of  the  first, 
and  the  religious  opinions  of  the  second,  made  it  certain 
that  they  must  employ  whatever  influence  they  derived 
from  the  union  against  vital  religion.  The  union  had 
perceptibly  corrupted  the  Presbyterian  and  Independent 
churches  during  the  reign  of  the  Protector  ;  but  at  his 
death,  its  influence  upon  the  churches  became  much  niore 
disastrous.  The  new  government  assumed  power  only  to 
persecute  evangelical  religion.  "  Then  came  those  days, 
never  to  be  recalled  without  a  blush,  the  days  of  servitude 
without  loyalty,  and  sensuahty  without  love,  of  dwarfish 
talents  and  gigantic  vices,  the  paradise  of  cold  hearts  and 
narrow  minds,  the  golden  age  of  the  coward,  the  bigot,  and 

'  Hallara,  vol.  ii.  pp.  85-87.  »  lb.  p.  91. 

C* 


58  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

the  slave.  The  king  cringed  to  his  rival  that  he  might 
trample  on  his  people  ;  sunk  into  a  viceroy  of  France,  and 
pocketed,  with  complacent  infamy,  her  degrading  insults 
and  her  more  degrading  gold.  The  caresses  of  harlots  and 
the  jests  of  buffoons  regulated  the  measures  of  a  government 
which  had  just  ability  enough  to  deceive,  and  just  religion 
enough  to  persecute.  The  principles  of  liberty  were  the 
scoff  of  every  grinning  courtier,  and  the  anathema  marantha 
of  every  fawning  dean.  In  every  high  place  worship  was 
paid  to  Charles  and  James,  Belial  and  Moloch  ;  and  En- 
gland propitiated  those  obscene  and  cruel  idols  with  the 
blood  of  her  best  and  bravest  children.  Crime  succeeded 
to  crime,  and  disgrace  to  disgrace,  till  the  race  accursed  of 
God  and  man  was  a  second  time  driven  forth  to  wander  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,  and  to  be  a  by-word  and  a  shaking 
of  the  head  to  the  nations."^ 

The  results  of  the  union  between  revengeful  ecclesiastics 
and  a  profligate  prince  during  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  are 
such  as  can  not  be  learned  without  indignation.  In  England 
nearly  two  thousand  of  the  best  ministers  in  the  country 
were  driven  from  their  parishes,  and  then  pursued  with 
merciless  severity  if  they  dared  to  exercise  their  ministry 
elsewhere.  Peaceable  and  devoted  men  like  Alliene  and 
Flavel  filled  the  prisons.  Men  like  Baxter,  who  were 
qualified  by  their  wisdom  and  piety  to  instruct  distant 
generations,  were  insulted  and  harassed  by  profligates  like 
Judge  Jeffreys,  who  were  the  personification  of  every  vice. 
In  England,  Archbishop  Sheldon  tore  nearly  two  thousand 
godly  ministers  from  their  congregations,  to  be  hunted  by 
Jeftreys  and  other  hostile  magistrates  like  wild  beasts.  In 
Scotland,  Archbishop  Sharp  effected  the  expulsion  of  four 
hundred  of  the  best  ministers  from  their  parishes  ;  and  then 
Lauderdale,  with  his  infamous  agents.  Turner,  Dalziel,  and 
Bannatyne,  pursued  them  with  so  much  cruelty,  tliat  the 
country  rose  in  arms  against  the  government,  and  the  arch- 
bishop was  murdered  by  men  whom  his  oppressions  had 
goaded  to  madness.^      While  the  king  was  sanctioning  all 

^  Edinburgh  Review,  No.  Ixxxiv.  p.  337. 

'  Hetherington,  "  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,"  pp.  371-456. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  59 

this  profligacy  by  his  example,  and  this  persecution  of  god- 
liness by  his  authority,  the  churches  of  Christ  united  with 
the  State  still  allowed  him  the  right  to  superintend  their 
doctrine  and  their  discipline,  and  continued  to  style  him  in 
their  prayers  "  our  religious  and  gracious  king." 

The  next  head  which  the  churches  received  from  the 
union  w&s  a  keen  Roman  Catholic,  one  whose  efforts  both 
in  the  legislature  and  in  the  administration  were  directed 
toward  the  re-estabhshment  of  Romanism  on  the  ruins  of 
the  Protestant  faith. 

Thus,  with  the  exception  of  Edward  VI.,  who  died  when 
still  a  boy,  all  the  sovereigns  whom  the  union  placed  over 
the  churches,  from  Henry  VIII.  to  James  II.,  during  a 
space  of  140  years,  employed  their  terrible  supremacy  to 
extinguish  vital  religion. 

After  the  Revolution,  there  continued  to  be  a  steady  de- 
clension of  the  nation  in  vital  godliness.  The  union  seemed 
to  have  stricken  religion  to  death.  ^  "  The  low  Arminian- 
ism  and  intolerant  bigotry  of  Laud  paved  the  way  for  a 
change  which  was  not  a  little  aided  by  the  unbounded 
licentiousness  and  profligacy  which  overspread  the  king- 
dom after  the  restoration.  From  that  time,  the  idea  com- 
monly entertained  in  England  of  a  perfect  sermon  was  that 
of  a  discourse  upon  some  moral  topic,  clear,  correct,  and 
argumentative,  in  the  delivery  of  which  the  preacher  must 
be  free  from  all  suspicion  of  being  moved  himself,  or  of  in- 
tending to  produce  emotions  in  his  hearers.  This  singular 
model  of  pulpit  eloquence  was  carried  to  the  utmost  perfec- 
tion ;  so  that  while  the  bar,  the  parliament,  and  the  thea- 
ter, frequently  agitated  and  inflamed  their  respective  audit- 
ories, the  church  was  the  only  place  where  the  most  fever- 
ish sensibility  was  sure  of  being  laid  to  rest.  This  inimit- 
able apathy  in  the  mode  of  imparting  religious  instruction, 
combined  with  the  utter  neglect  of  whatever  is  most  touch- 
ing or  alarming  in  the  discoveries  of  the  Gospel,  produced 
their  natural  effect  of  extinguishing  devotion  in  the  Estab- 
lished Church,  and  of  leaving  it  to  be  possessed  by  the  dis- 
senters. From  these  causes  the  people  gradually  became 
alienated  from  the  articles  of  the  Church,  eternal  concerns 


60  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

dropped  out  of  the  mind,  and  what  remained  of  religion 
was  confined  to  an  attention  to  a  few  forms  and  ceremonies. 
Such  points  as  the  corruption  of  human  nature,  the  neces- 
sity of  the  new  birth,  and  justification  by  faith,  were  either 
abandoned  to  obUvion,  or  held  up  to  ridicule  and  contempt. 

The  consequence  was  that  the  creed  established  by  law 
had  no  sort  of  influence  in  forming  the  sentiments  of  the 
people  ;  the  pulpit  completely  vanquished  the  desk  ;  piety 
and  puritanism  were  confounded  in  one  common  reproach  ; 
an  almost  pagan  darkness  in  the  concerns  of  salvation  pre- 
vailed, and  the  English  became  the  most  irreligious  people 
upon  earth. 

"  Such  was  the  situation  of  things  when  Whitefield  and 
Wesley  made  their  appearance,  who,  whatever  failings  the 
severest  criticism  can  discover  in  their  character,  will  be 
hailed  by  posterity  as  the  second  reformers  of  England."  ^ 

Roused  by  the  zeal  of  the  Methodists,  many  of  the  clergy 
of  the  Establishment  became  earnest,  evangelical  men,  upon 
whom  depended,  under  God,  the  task  of  recalling  that  im- 
mense association  of  churches  to  spiritual  life.  To  promote 
that  spiritual  life  is  the  avowed  object  of  the  union.  If 
the  union  has  any  value,  it  ought  to  be  seen  in  its  facilita- 
ting the  ministry  of  devoted  pastors.  But  from  the  days 
of  Wesley  to  the  present  time,  its  influence  has  been  de- 
cidedly to  discountenance  their  efforts.  We  may  judge  of 
that  influence  by  the  sentiments  of  the  great  ministers  of 
the  Crown,  who  nominate  our  bishops,  and  preside  over  our 
ecclesiastical  legislation.  Few  ministers  of  the  Crown  have 
had  better  opportunities  of  knowing  spiritual  religion  than 
Mr.  Pitt,  who  was  the  friend  of  Wilberforce  ;  and  few 
have  been  possessed  of  equal  ability  to  turn  those  opportu- 
nities to  account.  When  Mr,  Wilberforce  became,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  a  real  Christian,  Mr.  Pitt  "  thought  that  he 
was  out  of  spirits,  that  company  and  conversation  would  be 
the  best  way  of  dissipating  his  impressions  ;"  and  in  two 
hours'  conversation  with  him  on  the  subject,  he  tried  to 
"  reason  him  out  of  his  convictions,"  and  thus  gave  Mr. 
Wilberforce  occasion  to  remark,  <'  The  fact  is,  he  was  so 
'  Hairs  Works,  vol.  iv.  pp.  84-86. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  61 

absorbed  in  politics  that  he  had  never  given  himself  time 
for  due  reflection  on  religion."  ^  But  though  he  was  too 
busy  to  be  religious,  too  much  engrossed  with  the  interests 
of  time  to  prepare  for  eternity,  too  anxious  about  what  M'as 
comparatively  trivial  to  think  of  the  one  thing  needful,  too 
much  absorbed  in  the  service  of  an  earthly  sovereign  to 
serve  his  Creator  and  Redeemer,  he  was  not  too  busy  to 
contract  rooted  prejudices  against  the  only  men  within  the 
Establishment  who  were  zealously  preaching  Christ,  and 
promoting  evangelical  religion.  When  Mr.  Pitt,  by  the 
advice  of  Bishop  Prettyman,  was  about  to  support  in  Par- 
liament a  bill  which  Avould  materially  have  restricted  the 
freedom  of  dissenters,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Wilber- 
force,  would  have  thrown  some  of  their  most  distinguished 
ministers  into  prison,  Mr.  Wilberforce  sought  an  opportu- 
nity of  discussing  the  matter  with  the  premier,  and  has 
thus  recorded  the  result.  "  We  spent  some  hours  together 
at  a  tete-a-tete  supper,  and  I  confess  I  never  till  then  knew 
how  deep  a  prejudice  his  mind  had  conceived  against  the 
class  of  clergy  to  whom  he  knew  me  to  be  attached.  It 
was  in  vain  that  I  mentioned  to  him  Mr.  Robinson  of 
Leicester,  Mr.  Pv-ichardson  of  York,  Mr.  Milner  of  Hull, 
Mr.  Atkinson  of  Leeds,  and  others  of  similar  principles  ; 
his  language  was  such  as  to  imply  that  he  thought  ill  of 
their  moral  character."^  Mr.  Pitt's  prejudices,  however, 
against  evangelical  religion,  did  not  destroy  his  zeal  for  the 
Establishment ;  and  as  became  the  patron  of  the  union,  he 
decidedly  advocated  the  maintenance  of  orthodoxy  by  per- 
secution. A  petition,  praying  for  a  repeal  of  the  penal 
statutes  against  those  who  denied  the  doctrine  of  the  Tri- 
nity, having  been  presented  to  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
supported  by  Mr.  Fox,  who  contended  justly,  that  all  re- 
straint, and  all  interference  with  respect  to  religious  opinions, 
however  opposite  those  opinions  might  be  to  the  established 
rehgion  of  the  country,  or  however  dangerous  they  might 
be  thought  to  the  public  tranquillity,  were  unjust  and  in- 
defensible, Mr.  Pitt  replied,  that  were  these  statutes  to  be 
repealed,  it  might  be  inferred  that  the  House  was  indifferent 
^  LifeofWilberforc6,vol.  i.pp.93,  94.  '  lb.  vol.  ii.  p.  364. 


62  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

to  the  Established  Church,  for  M^hose  protection  they  were 
originally  enacted,  and  upon  whose  enemies  they  still  oper- 
ated as  some  restraint.  The  repeal  of  these  statutes  might 
be  considered  by  the  public  as  the  first  step  toward  a 
gradual  removal  of  all  those  barriers  which  our  ancestors 
had  erected  for  the  safety  of  our  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
constitution.  The  motion  was  rejected  by  a  majority  of 
142  to  63.^ 

Here  our  review  of  the  experience  of  mankind  respecting 
the  union  shall  cease  ;  its  influence  on  Catholic  kingdoms, 
its  connection  with  the  recent  dismemberment  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  its  support  to  rationalism  and  superstition  in 
France  and  elsewhere,  together  with  its  working  at  present 
in  this  country,  may  be  better  considered  in  the  second 
part  of  this  work,  which  is  dedicated  to  the  examination  of 
its  eflects.  Even  the  sUght  foregoing  sketch  is  sufficient  to 
convince  unprejudiced  persons  that  the  union  has  been  in 
many  countries,  and  through  many  ages,  the  alliance  of 
fraud  and  force  to  degrade  the  nations  ;  the  compact  of  the 
priest  and  the  potentate  to  crush  the  rights  of  conscience  ; 
the  combination  of  regal  and  prelatic  tyranny  to  repress 
true  religion. 

The  eflects  of  the  union  have  been  so  palpably  and 
universally  bad,  as  to  render  positive  evidence  on  the  side 
of  freedom  unnecessary  ;  still,  as  there  are  some  persons  to 
whom  unknown  possibilities  of  evil  seem  worse  than  any 
amount  of  existing  evil,  and  who  think  that  the  union 
could  not  have  been  so  general,  unless  there  had  been  a 
real  necessity  for  its  existence,  let  us  briefly  notice  the  ex- 
perience of  some  free  churches. 

The  churches  of  the  first  three  centuries  were  free. 
Unsalaried  by  the  State,  they  could  determine  their  creed, 
organize  their  discipline,  and  choose  their  pastors,  according 
to  their  pleasure  ;  each  church,  supporting  its  ministers, 
was  entirely  independent  of  external  control.  And  in  this 
state  of  poverty  and  freedom  they  so  proclaimed  the  truth, 
and  so  recommended  it  by  their  lives,  that  their  numbers 
and  influence  continued  to  increase,  till  the  Emperor  Con- 
^  Life  of  Pitt,  by  Bishop  Tomline,  vol.  ii.  pp.  451-454. 


THE  UiNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  63 

stantine  found  it  expedient,  for  the  establishment  of  his 
throne,  to  profess  himself  a  Christian. 

During  the  ages  of  defection  from  truth  and  duty, 
which  followed  the  union  between  the  Church  and  State, 
effected  by  that  monarch,  one  community  alone,  which 
has  preserved  the  appropriate  motto,  "  Lux  i?t  tenebris,'" 
held  forth  the  word  of  life  to  the  population  round  it.  In 
the  valleys  which  lie  between  Mont  Cenis  and  Mont  Viso, 
in  the  southeastern  declivities  of  the  Cottian  Alps,  a  few 
Christians,  refusing  to  wear  the  yoke  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  were  also  happily  saved  from  union  with  the  State. 
The  churches  formed  by  these  peasants  of  the  Alps,  were 
almost  the  only  ones  which,  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries,  retained  sound  doctrine,  simplicity  of  worship, 
and  spiritual  life.  And  to  this  day,  notwithstanding  the 
periods  of  declension  to  which  every  church,  alas  I  is  prone 
under  every  system,  they  remain  the  only  evangehcal 
churches  in  Italy. 

While  they  were  preserving  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel 
in  Italy,  another  free  church  rose  on  the  eastern  frontier 
of  Saxony.  At  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when 
the  Christians  of  Austrian  Silesia  were  cruelly  harassed 
by  the  Church  in  union  with  the  State,  a  few  of  the  per- 
secuted peasants  sought  refuge  in  Saxony,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Count  Zinzendorf  June  17,  1722,  they  cut 
down  the  first  tree  in  a  forest  on  the  road  between  Zittau 
and  Lobau,  where  they  raised  the  first  wood  house  of  the 
village  of  Herrnhut.^  Eighteen  other  emigrants  soon 
joined  them  f  and  for  ten  years  these  emigrations  tor 
liberty  of  conscience  continued,  till  some  hundreds  of  these 
poor  and  persecuted  followers  of  Christ  had  built  for  them- 
selves the  village  of  Herrnhut.^  In  1731,  when  their 
numbers  amounted  only  to  six  hundred,  they  were  visited 
by  Anthony,  a  negro,  who  described  to  them  the  melan- 
choly state  of  his  fellow-slaves  in  the  West  Indies. "^    Moved 

1  Bost,  "Hist,  de  I'Eglise  des  Freres,"  &c.  vol.  i.  pp.  256-265. 

2  lb.  p.  322.  '  lb.  p.  354. 

*  lb.  vol.  ii.  pp.  134-137.  Holmes's  "Historical  Sketches  of  the 
Missions  of  the  United  Brethren,"  Introduction,  p.  3. 


64  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

by  that  recital,  two  of  the  brethren  offered  to  go  as  mis- 
sionaries to  the  island  of  St.  Thomas  ;  and  the  church 
having  approved  of  their  design,  they  left  Herrnhut,  Aug. 
21,  1732  ;  and,  October  8,  they  embarked  at  Copenhagen 
for  that  island.^  The  zeal  which  was  thus  excited  in  the 
church  continued  to  increase,  and  within  ten  years  did 
those  poor  exiles  send  missionaries  to  St.  Thomas,  to  St. 
Croix,  to  Greenland,  to  Surinam,  to  Berbice,  to  several 
Indian  tribes  in  North  America,  to  the  Negroes  in  South 
Carolina,  to  Lapland,  to  Tartary,  to  Algiers,  to  Guinea, 
to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  to  Ceylon.^  Since  that 
time  their  missionary  efforts  have  so  increased,  that  at  this 
moment  their  2 8 2  missionaries  have  64,268  Negroes,  North 
American  Indians,  Greenlanders,  Esquimaux,  and  Hotten- 
tots, under  regular  Christian  instruction,  of  whom  20,033 
are  communicants  under  strict  discipline.^  As  the  number 
of  the  United  Brethren  does  not  much  exceed  10,000,  the 
number  of  their  converts  compared  with  their  own  number 
is  so  large,  that  if  all  the  established  churches  in  union 
with  the  European  States  had  labored  with  an  assiduity 
and  success  equal  to  theirs,  nearly  the  whole  heathen  world 
would  at  this  moment  be  under  regular  Christian  education. 
Great  as  are  the  services  which  have  been  rendered  to 
the  cause  of  the  Redeemer  by  that  simple  and  fervent 
community,  they  have  in  one  respect,  at  least,  been  sur- 
passed by  the  free  Protestant  churches  of  France.  I  do 
not  reckon  it  as  the  higher  glory  of  these  churches  that 
they  could  count  among  their  members  Sully,  Coligni,  and 
Andelot,  D'Aubigne,  and  Duplessis  Mornay,  a  band  of 
companions  more  distinguished  for  virtue  and  for  valor, 
than  any  equal  number  of  contemporary  soldiers  and  states- 
men in  any  period  of  French  history  ;  I  will  not  dwell  on 
the  piety  and  talent  of  their  ministers,  Du  Moulin,  Du 
Bosc,  Morus,  Daille,  Drelincourt,  Claude,  Jurieu,  Saurin, 

'  Bost,  "Hist,  de  I'Eglise  des  Freres,"  &c.  vol.  ii.  p.  146. 

'  Holmes's  "  Historical  Sketches  of  the  Missions  of  the  United 
Brethren,"  Introduction,  p.  3. 

3  Twenty-ninth  Report  of  the  London  Association  in  aid  of  the 
Moravian  Missions,  Appendix  A. 


THE  UNIOiN  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  65 

Abbadie,  &c.,  &c.,  whose  writings  have  enriched  our  Prot- 
estant literature  ;  but  I  allude  to  their  sufferings  for  the 
sake  of  Christ. 

The  following  are  some  among  the  numerous  edicts  by 
which  Louis  XIV.,  the  licentious  slave  of  a  Jesuit  con- 
fessor and  abandoned  mistresses,  sought,  as  the  head  of  the 
union  between  Church  and  State,  to  exterminate  the  Prot- 
estantism of  his  kingdom.  In  1669,  his  subjects  were  for- 
bidden to  quit  the  kingdom,  on  pain  of  confiscation  of  goods, 
&c.  &c.  In  1680,  Protestant  children  of  seven  years  old 
were  allowed,  on  abjuring  their  religion  against  the  wishes 
of  their  parents,  to  leave  them,  and  to  demand  from  them 
a  legal  maintenance.  In  1683,  the  reformed  worship  was 
forbidden  in  all  the  episcopal  cities  of  the  empire,  and  all 
books  against  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  were  likewise 
prohibited.  At  length,  October,  1685,  appeared  the  Edict 
of  Revocation,  by  which  Protestant  temples  were  demol- 
ished, Protestant  worship  was  forbidden,  Protestant  minis- 
ters were  banished  the  kingdom  ;  no  other  Protestant  might 
leave  the  kingdom  on  pain  of  condemnation  to  the  galleys  ; 
the  children  of  Protestants  were  to  be  brought  up  as  Cath- 
olics ;  and  the  goods  of  those  who  did  not  conform  within 
four  months  were  confiscated.^  Next  year  was  added 
a  decree,  addressed  to  the  king's  attorneys  (^procureurs 
royaux),  to  seize  Protestant  children  above  five  years  of 
age,  and  to  place  them  under  the  care  of  Catholics.  May, 
1686,  the  king  decreed  that  every  Protestant  minister 
apprehended  in  France  should  be  executed  ;  those  who 
assisted  a  minister  should  be  sent  to  the  galleys,  or  impris- 
oned for  life  ;  5500  livres  were  to  be  given  to  each  in- 
former ;  and  all  persons  detected  and  taken  in  the  act  of 
assembling  for  Protestant  worship  were  to  suffer  death. ^ 
Multitudes  of  Protestants  conformed  to  the  established  re- 
ligion ;  many  more  contrived  to  leave  the  kingdom  ;  and 
at  length,  the  worn-out  debauchee  coined  a  medal  to  cele- 
brate his  triumph  as  head  of  Church  and  State  over  "  the 
extinct  heresy."^      But  the  same  year  in  which  the  edict 

^  Histoire  des  Eglises  du  Desert,  par  Charles  Coquerel,  vol.  i. 
pp.  41-55.  '  lb.  pp.  56,  57.  '  lb.  p.  31. 


66  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

of  Nantes  was  thus  savagely  revoked,  the  churches  of  the 
desert  began  to  assemble  in  the  mountains  of  Languedoc. 
The  same  month  in  which  the  temple  at  Charenton  was 
demolished,  the  religious  assemblies  of  the  Cevenols  met 
under  the  vault  of  heaven  ;  and  the  same  year  in  which 
Louis  the  debauchee  expired,  glorying  in  his  abolition  of 
the  Protestant  worship,  did  a  noble  peasant  youth  collect 
a  few  preachers  in  the  caverns  of  the  Cevennes,  and  there 
undertake,  in  the  name  of  God,  the  revival  of  the  crushed 
and  bleeding  churches  of  France.^  Anthony  Court,  born 
at  Villeneuve-de-Berg,  in  the  Vivarais,  in  1696,  was  only 
seventeen  years  old  when  he  began  to  preach  to  his  fellow 
Protestants  in  their  nocturnal  meetings.  To  intrepid  cour- 
age and  consummate  prudence  he  added  surprising  bodily 
strength,  which  enabled  him  to  support  the  greatest  fatigue  , 
and  he  devoted  all  his  powers  of  mind  and  body  to  serve 
the  Redeemer,  with  an  integrity  which  nothing  could  tempt, 
and  a  faith  which  no  difficulties  could  overcome. ^  Perse- 
cution had  driven  the  mountaineers  to  rebellion,  and  in  the 
war  of  the  Cevennes  religion  had  too  much  degenerated 
into  fanaticism.  Prophets  took  the  place  of  preachers,  and 
discipUne  was  necessarily  lost.  Their  valor  was  incredible, 
their  perseverance  heroic,  but  their  vengeance  was  often 
bloody  ;  they  became  lawless  warriors  rather  than  meek 
disciples  of  Christ ;  and  the  reformed  churches  of  France 
seemed  near  extinction.  August  21st,  1715,  Anthony 
assembled  a  few  of  his  brethren  for  consultation,  elders 
were  appointed,  rules  were  laid  down  for  the  admission  of 
candidates  to  the  pastoral  office,  a  strict  disciphne  was 
established,  and  the  churches  soon  began  to  recover  order 
and  force. ^  Year  by  year  they  augmented  the  number  of 
their  members  ;  the  synod  grew  in  number,  and  the  assem- 
blies became  more  numerous.^  Though  their  ministers 
were  unlettered,  fervency  and  strong  sense  supplied  the 
lack  of  learning.  Though  their  religious  books  had  been 
seized,  they  knew  the  Psalms  by  heart,  and  had  thoroughly 
studied  the  Bible.*      Their  meetings  took  place  by  night, 

1  Coquerel,  pp.  60,  64,  99.  ^  lb.  p.  21. 

3  Ib.pp.  32,  28, 105.  ^  lb.  pp.  101-105.  ^  lb.  p.  111. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  67 

in  caverns,   in  woods,   on  the  wide   heath,   or  under  the 
shelter  of  rocks,  far  from  any  human  dwelhng.      To  attend 
them  exposed  the  hearer  to  the  galleys,  and  the  preacher 
to  death.      Fanatic  priests  and  fierce  magistrates,  with  a 
brutal  soldiery  under  their  command,  employed  a  thousand 
stratagems  to  surprise  them  ;   and  the  police  of  persecution 
was  spread  like  a  network  over  the  whole  country.^      Gen- 
erally, their  precautions  enabled  them  to  elude  the  vigilance 
of  their  oppressors  ;  the  place  of  meeting  was  announced  to 
the  brethren  by  faithful  men,  who  visited  them  in  their 
dwellings,  and  brave  and  prudent  guides  escorted  the  pastor 
to  the  spot  by  night  along  concealed  paths.      The  brethren 
in   the  country  communicated  with    the  brethren  in  the 
towns.    Every  night,  on  these  occasions,  the  pastor  changed 
his  lodging  ;   and  his  brethren  counted  it  an  honor  to  wel- 
come him  at  the  risk  of  their  own  lives.      When  they  were 
assembled,  scouts  on  the  neighboring  heights  warned  them 
of  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  and  thus  often  they  escaped 
discovery.      But  if  persecution  raged  too  severely,  the  meet- 
ings were  discontinued,  and  the  churches  seemed  to  have 
vanished,  while  every  family,  by  reading  of  the  Scriptures 
and  by  domestic  worship,  cherished  its  faith  and  piety  for 
a  happier  day.      Thus  their  constancy  triumphed  over  the 
savage  efforts  of  the  Church  and  State  during  half  a  century 
to  destroy  their  property,  their  religion,  and  their  existence. ^ 
Under  the  regency  of  Philip,  duke  of  Orleans,  the  per- 
secutions were  relaxed  ;  but  no  sooner  did  Louis  XV.  attain 
his  majority,  than  he  thundered  forth  a  decree  against  the 
Protestants,  which  equaled  in  fierceness  those  of  Louis  XIV., 
and  surpassed  them  in  barbarous  ingenuity.^     Notwithstand- 
ing, however,  the  rigor  of  the  government,   the  churches 
still  grew  in  numbers  and  in  courage.      Pastors  who  loved 
the  Redeemer,   because   he  had    loved  them,   braved  the 
fear  of  death,  that  they  might  preach  the  salvation  by 
his  blood.      Court  preached  through  the  churches  of  Lan- 
guedoc;   Chapel  sought  out  the  scattered  Protestants  of 
Poitou  and  Santonge  ;   and  Roger  executed  the  same  dan- 

^  Coquerel,  i.  pp.  19,  113.  ^  lb.  pp.  112,  113. 

3  lb.  pp.  151,  157. 


68  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

geroTis  office  in  Dauphine.  In  some  places  the  congregation 
amounted  to  three  thousand  persons  ;  peasants,  bourgeois, 
and  even  nobles,  standing  side  by  side.  Numbers  watched 
with  eagerness  the  day  of  the  pastor's  arrival ;  for  they  felt 
a  hunger  and  thirst  for  the  word  of  God.  The  bold  were 
warned  to  be  prudent ;  the  timid  were  animated  to  make 
a  frank  profession  of  their  faith  ;  they  read  the  Scriptures, 
they  prayed  and  they  received  the  Supper  of  the  Lord  to- 
gether. Sometimes  the  moon  shone  out  on  the  silent  num- 
bers who  were  listening  to  the  pastor's  words,  and  sometimes 
the  tempest  mingled  its  blasts  and  its  torrents  with  their 
enthuasiastic  hymns. ^  But  the  pastors  were  too  few;  and 
since  Court  could  not  find  pastors  he  must  make  them. 
Of  all  the  exiled  ministers  none  would  return  to  that  scene 
of  danger  ;  but  pious  youths,  who  felt  themselves  ready  for 
martyrdom  (se  sentaient  la  vocation  pour  le  martyr e)  were 
taken  from  the  plough  and  from  the  workshop,  and  as  they 
could  not  be  educated  in  France,  they  were  sent  to  a  new 
school  of  theology  opened  for  them  by  Court  at  Lausanne,^ 
whence  they  returned  to  labor  and  martyrdom.  The  30th 
of  November,  1728,  Alexander  Roussel  was  martyred  at 
Montpelher.  The  2 2d  of  January,  Stephen  Arnaud  was 
executed  at  Alais.^  April,  22,  1732,  Montpellier  was 
again  disgraced  by  the  martyrdom  of  Durand,  a  pastor  of 
the  Cevennes.'^  174-5  and  1746,  numbers  were  condemned 
to  the  galleys,  banished,  whipped,  fined,  and  degraded.^ 
March  2d,  1745,  Louis  Rang  was  condemned  at  Grenoble 
and  hung  at  Die,  where  he  maintained  his  courage  and 
cheerfulness  to  the  end.  Nothing  terrified  by  this  event, 
Alexander,  his  brother,  continued  still  to  preach  through 
Dauphine,  though  he  was  condemned  to  death,  and  a  price 
was  set  upon  his  head.^  When  Louis  Rang  M^as  arrested 
at  Livron,  the  venerable  pastor,  Roger,  wrote  to  strengthen 
his  faith,  and  often  exclaimed,  "  Poor  child,  how  I  wish  I 
was  in  your  place  I  Although  he  also  was  pursued  by  his 
enemies,  he  would  not  suspend  his  labors.      The  assemblies 

^  Coquerel,  p.  239.  ^  j^   pp    i9i_i97. 

^^  lb.  pp.  315,  325.  4  lb.  pp.  325,  326. 

6  lb.  pp.  331-334.  6  jb.  pp.  334^336. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  69 

were  as  frequent  and  as  well  attended  as  before  ;  and  when 
he  was  seized  in  a  wood  near  Crest,  and  was  asked  by  the 
officer  who  he  was,  he  replied,  "  I  am  he  whom  you  have 
been  seeking  these  thirty-nine  years  ;  it  was  time  that  you 
should  find  me." 

His  firmness  before  his  judges  was  unshaken.  In  the 
prison  he  exhorted  his  fellow-prisoners  to  constancy  ;  and 
when,  May  22d,  1745,  the  executioners  came  to  conduct 
him  to  martyrdom,  he  exclaimed,  "  Happy  moment,  which 
I  have  so  often  desired  I  Rejoice,  O  my  soul,  it  is  the  day 
when  thou  must  enter  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  ^  About 
the  same  time  the  prisons  of  Alais,  Uzes,  St.  Hippolite, 
Nismes,  Montpellier,  and  other  towns,  were  filled  with 
those  who  were  suffering  for  the  sake  of  Christ  :  and  ruin- 
ous fines  were  exacted  from  Protestants  throughout  the 
south. ^  In  the  same  year  Matthew  Majal,  a  young  min- 
ister, only  twenty-six  years  old,  was  seized  in  the  village 
of  Muzel,  and  carried  first  to  Vernoux,  and  then  to  Mont- 
pellier. When  interrogated,  his* judges  were  astonished 
and  melted  at  the  dignity,  sense,  and  piety  manifested  by 
one  so  young.  At  the  place  of  execution,  where  an  im- 
mense crowd  was  assembled,  February  2d,  1746,  two 
Jesuits  harassed  him  with  their  importunate  bigotry,  drums 
drowned  his  voice  when  he  sought  to  address  the  people  ; 
but  the  beauty  of  his  youthful  countenance,  the  manifest 
lervency  of  his  prayers,  his  calmness,  constancy,  and  gentle- 
ness, brought  tears  to  every  eye.  The  Protestants  blessed 
God  for  the  grace  which  was  given  to  him,  and  the  Cath- 
olics envied  them  the  glory  of  his  martyrdom.^  August 
1st,  Elias  Vivien,  a  preacher  in  Saintonge,  was  condemned 
and  executed  at  Rochelle.*  January  30th,  1752,  Fran- 
cois Benezet,  who,  like  Majal,  was  only  twenty-six  years 
of  age,  was  seized  near  Vigan,  and  being  conducted  to 
Montpellier,  was  there  condemned  for  having  preached  in 
Languedoc.  March  27th,  he  was  led  to  execution;  and 
though  the  drums  drowned  his  voice,  yet  the  spectators 
could  hear  him  singing  the  51st  Psalm  amid  the  roar,  and 

1  Coquerel,  pp.  345,  346.  ^  lb.  p.  348. 

3  lb.  pp.  377-386.  *  lb.  p.  419. 


70  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

could  see  that  his  countenance  maintained  its  unalterable 
serenity  to  the  end.^ 

The  dissolute  court,  amidst  excesses  and  abuses  of  every 
kind,  received  with  dehght  the  news  of  this  judicial  murder.^ 
1754,  Stephen  Teissier  Lafage,  a  young  minister,  was  hung 
at  Montpellier,  and  died  with  so  much  constancy  and  peace 
that  the  soldiers  round  the  scaffold  could  not  restrain  their 
tears. ^  Lastly,  February  19th,  1762,  Fran9ois  Rochette, 
a  young  minister  of  Upper  Languedoc,  and  three  noble 
brothers,  Grenier  de  Commel,  Grenier  de  Saradou,  and  the 
youthful  Grenier  de  Lourmade,  were  executed  together, 
with  an  intrepidity  which  astonished  the  assembled  crowd."^ 
During  these  years  many  of  the  Protestants  suffered  greatly. 
Between  1744  and  1752,  eighty  gentlemen  received  differ- 
ent punishments,  six  hundred  Protestants  were  imprisoned, 
and  eight  hundred  endured  other  punishments  in  the  south 
alone. ^  Congregations  were  dispersed  by  soldiers  ;  dra- 
goons were  quartered  on  the  Protestant  inhabitants  ;  and 
children  were  dragged  by  force  to  the  Catholic  churches  to 
be  baptized.  Multitudes  conformed,  multitudes  fled  the 
country,  and  whole  villages  were  depopulated,  and  many 
took  refuge  in  caverns  and  in  forests.  While  Voltaire  was 
writing  against  them  in  Paris,  the  Duke  of  Richelieu,  his 
infidel  and  profligate  friend,  was  hunting  them  with  his 
dragoons  in  Languedoc.  The  court,  the  bishops,  and  the 
infidels,  were  all  leagued  against  them,  and  were  triumph- 
ing in  their  atrocious  success.  Mean  Mobile  Paul  Rabaut, 
the  intrepid  pastor  of  Nismes,  and  other  pastors,  continued 
their  adventurous  ministry.  The  congregations  still  assem- 
bled ;  their  organization  was  improved  ;  as  many  as  two 
thousand  gathered  in  the  desert  to  hear  the  word  of  God. 
And  on  one  occasion,  at  the  ordination  of  three  pastors,  8th 
of  May,  1756,  no  less  than  ten  thousand  assembled  at  the 
foot  of  a  mountain  in  Languedoc.^  At  length  their  con- 
stancy prevailed.  All  moderate  persons  began  to  be  dis- 
gusted with  these  persecutions.     The  clergy,  partly  through 

^  Coquerel,  vol.  ii.  pp.  50,  51.  *  lb.  p.  51. 

3  lb.  p.  170.  •*  lb.  pp.  290,  291. 

6  lb.  vol.  i.  p.  431.  ^  lb.  vol.  ii.  p.  238. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  HISTORY.  71 

their  immorality,  and  partly  through  the  prevalence  of  the 
infidel  philosophy,  having  fallen  into  general  contempt, 
numbers  of  the  Protestants,  under  the  tolerant  ministry  of 
Turgot  and  of  Malesherhes,  though  they  had  concealed 
their  principles  in  the  time  of  danger,  now  professed  them 
openly  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom;  and  obtained, 
January  1788,  an  edict  of  toleration  from  Louis  XVI.^ 
At  length,  unhappily  for  them,  Napoleon  took  their  pastors 
into  the  pay  of  the  State,  and  the  Pveformed  Church  be- 
came one  of  the  estabhshed  churches  of  the  empire. 

In  vain,  then,  do  Mr.  Burke  and  Mr.  Gladstone  appeal 
on  behalf  of  the  principle  of  Establishments  to  the  general 
practice  of  mankind.  That  general  practice,  pagan  and 
papal  but  not  Christian,  has  ever  been  employed  to  sustain 
tyranny  and  priestcraft,  to  crush  liberty  and  to  repress 
truth  ;  and  can  ill  be  pleaded  on  behalf  of  a  principle 
which  it  illustrates  only  to  brand  it  with  eternal  infamy. 
Throughout  the  preceding  sketch  of  church  history  we  see 
the  State  churches,  like  the  imperial  harlot  in  the  17th 
chapter  of  the  Apocalypse,  committing  fornication  wdth  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  by  disloyally  transferring  to  them  Christ's 
right  of  governing  his  churches,  receiving  from  them  their 
golden  hire  in  return  ;  and  the  free  churches,  like  the  wo- 
man of  the  1 2th  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse,  persecuted  by 
the  dragon,  and  driven  into  the  desert.  We  see  the  State 
churches,  like  the  harlot,  clothed  with  purple,  and  adorned 
with  gems,  Rev.  xvii.  4  ;  and  the  free  churches,  like  the 
woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  radiant  with  the  glory  of 
divine  grace,  Rev.  xii.  1.  We  see  the  State  churches, 
like  the  harlot  who  was  seated  on  the  symbolic  beast,  sus- 
tained by  superstitious  and  ungodly  majorities,  Rev.  xvii.  3  ; 
and  the  free  churches,  like  the  sun-bright  woman,  who  was 
solitary  in  the  wilderness,  long  deserted  and  proscribed  by 
them.  Rev.  xii.  6.  We  see  the  State  churches,  like  the 
harlot,  persecuting  the  saints  of  God,  Rev.  xvii.  6  ;  and 
the  free  churches,  like  the  sun-bright  woman,  sustained  by 
God  under  persecution.  Rev.  xii.  6.  We  see  the  State 
churches,  like  the  harlot,  exulting  in  their  numerous  ad- 
*  Coquerel,  vol.  ii.  p.  552. 


72  gz:neral  considerations. 

herents,  power,  and  wealth,  and  exclaiming,  "  I  sit  a  queen, 
and  shall  see  no  sorrow,"  Rev.  xviii.  7  ;  and  the  free 
churches,  at  length  helped  by  the  earth,  because  at  length 
the  world  began  to  favor  entire  liberty  of  conscience,  and 
to  respect  justice  between  man  and  man.  Rev.  xii.  16.  In 
the  State  churches  we  see  too  much  approximation  to  the 
great  apostasy  ;  and  in  the  free  churches  no  less  conformity 
to  the  predicted  condition  of  the  church  of  Christ. 

All  history  proclaims  that  the  union,  tried  through  long 
centuries  of  misrule,  and  found  every  where  to  be  only 
potent  for  evil,  should  at  length  give  place  to  Christ's  own 
law  of  spiritual  liberty,  through  which  alone  his  churches 
can  accomplish  their  beneficial  mission,  to  bring  the  nations 
of  the  earth  into  the  service  of  the  Redeemer,  and  to  make 
all  intellects  and  all  hearts  tributary  to  his  glory. 

Section  IV. —  The  Union  condemned  by  the  Mosaic 
Laiv. 

Advocates  of  the  union  between  Church  and  State  often 
appeal  on  its  behalf  to  the  law  and  practice  of  the  Old 
Testament.  By  an  express  provision  of  the  Mosaic  code, 
a  tithe  of  the  land's  produce  was  set  apart  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  priests  and  Levites.  From  which  they  argue 
thus  : — If  the  payment  of  tithes  was  then  made  obligatory 
by  law,  it  may  be  made  obligatory  by  law  still ;  what  was 
then  morally  right  can  not  now  be  morally  wrong  ;  and 
therefore  a  national  provision  for  the  ministers  of  religion 
has  the  direct  sanction  of  God.  "  Ma  e  senza  dubbio 
molto  periculoso  il  governarse  con  gli  esempi,  si  non  con- 
corrono  non  solo  in  generale,  ma  in  tutti  i  particolari  la 
medesime  rajione."  This  observation  of  Guicciardini  ap- 
plies exactly  to  this  alleged  Jewish  precedent,  which,  in- 
stead of  justifying  the  English  union  between  the  Church 
and  State,  most  unequivocably  condemns  it. 

As  the  Mosaic  law  is  expressly  abrogated,  its  mstitutions 
were  clearly  judged  by  their  divine  author  to  be  unfitted 
for  the  more  spiritual  and  more  universal  religion  of  Christ.* 

10. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  MOSAIC  LAW.     73 

And  to  imprison  Christian  doctrine  within  Jewish  ordin- 
ances, would  be  to  put  new  wine  into  old  bottles,  which 
was  what  our  Lord  declared  he  did  not  intend  to  do.^  If, 
therefore,  there  had  been  a  union  between  the  Church  and 
the  State  enacted  by  the  Mosaic  law,  I  should  see  in  it  no 
proof  that  such  union  was  allowed  by  the  law  of  Christ. 
But  there  was,  in  fact,  no  such  union  between  the  priest- 
hood and  the  government  ;  and,  on  the  contrary,  the  enact- 
ments of  the  Jewish  law  were  such  as  distinctly  to  condemn 
the  union  which  now  exists  in  this  country. 

1.  In  England,  the  ministers  of  the  EstabUshment  are 
maintained  by  taxes,  imposed  by  the  State,  in  the  form  of 
rent-charges  ;  and  ecclesiastical  buildings  are  maintained 
by  another  tax,  under  the  form  of  church-rates  :  these  taxes 
being  imposed  not  by  the  authority  of  God,  but  by  the 
authority  of  the  State.  In  Israel  tithes  were  imposed,  not 
by  the  authority  of  the  State,  but  by  the  command  of  God, 
there  being  no  royal  tax  whatever  /or  the  support  of  re- 
ligion ;  and  the  temple  and  all  the  synagogues  in  the  land 
were  built  and  repaired  by  voluntary  contributions.^ 

2.  In  England  the  State,  in  consequence  of  its  mainten- 
ance of  the  ministers  and  the  buildings  of  the  Establish- 
ment, assumes  a  control  over  it,  allows  or  forbids  its  synods, 
ratifies  or  rejects  its  canons,  and  passes  what  ecclesiastical 
laws  it  pleases  for  the  regulation  of  the  churches.  In  Is- 
rael the  State  could  issue  no  ecclesiastical  enactment  what- 
ever. The  prince  was  governed  by  the  following  law  : 
"  It  shall  be,  when  he  sitteth  upon  the  throne  of  his  king- 
dom, that  he  shall  write  him  a  copy  of  this  law  in  a 
book  out  of  that  tvhich  is  before  the  priests  ajid  the  Le- 
vites  ;  and  it  shall  be  with  him,  arul  he  shall  read  therein 
all  the  days  of  his  life :  tJiat  he  may  learn  to  fear  the 
Lord  his  God,  to  keep  all  the  words  of  this  laio  and  these 
statutes  to  do  them^^  One  of  these  statutes,  to  which  he 
was  bound  to  pay  obedience,  was  as  follows  :    "Ye  shall 

^  Matt.  ix.  17. 

2  2  Sam.  viii.   11  ;   1  Kings  vii    51  ;  2  Kings  xii.  4,  8,  9  j  rsc. 
4-7;   1  Chron.  xxii.  5-14;  xxix.  6;  2  Chron.  xxiv.  4. 
'  Deut.  xvii.  18,  19. 

D 


74  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

7Wt  add  unto  the  tvord  ivhich  I  command  you,  neither 
shall  ye  dimi7iish  aught  from  it,  that  ye  may  keep  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord  your  God  as  I  command 
you^^  So  that  he  was  expressly  forbidden  to  introduce 
the  slightest  change,  or  to  make  the  least  addition  to  the 
precepts  of  the  divine  law.  There  is  accordingly  no  trace 
of  any  ecclesiastical  statute  passed  by  any  one  of  the  Jew- 
ish kings.  The  chief  magistrate  did  not  possess  the  right 
of  exercising  the  least  control  over  the  creed,  worship,  or 
church  discipline  of  the  nation.  He  might  make  what 
civil  and  fiscal  regulations  he  pleased,  but  must  not  in  any 
respect  interfere  with  the  worship  of  God.  In  religion  they 
were  to  obey  God  alone.  The  only  apparent  exception  to 
this  general  fact,  in  reality,  confirms  it.  For  David,  in- 
deed, determined  the  form  of  the  temple  which  was  to  be 
built  at  Sion  ;2  but  this  he  did  as  a  prophet,  not  as  a  king, 
under  the  influence  of  divine  inspiration,  not  by  royal  pre-* 
rogative.^  No  human  authority  had  any  right  to  interfere 
with  the  creed,  worship,  or  discipline  of  the  Jewish  congre- 
gation ;  but  in  England  the  State  has  formed  a  large  body 
of  Ecclesiastical  laws,  by  which  the  churches  are  governed. 
Each  session  adds  some  new  enactment  to  the  portentous 
mass  ;  and  to  a  great  extent  church  duties  are  regulated 
by  the  statute-book. 

3.  During  the  Mosaic  economy  God  himself  appointed 
the  high-priest,  the  priests,  and  the  inferior  ministers  of  re- 
ligion. And  the  priests  being  thus  made  wholly  independ- 
ent of  the  king  and  the  government,  no  change  in  the  gov- 
ernment made  any  change  of  the  priesthood.  Thus,  when 
Rehoboam  succeeded  Solomon,  he  could  not  raise  one 
favorite  to  the  priesthood,  nor  displace  one  of  the  priests 
appointed  by  God ;  the  succession  of  the  ministers,  as  well 
as  their  duties,  was  appointed  by  God,  and  the  sovereign 
could  not  interfere  ;  but  in  England  the  State  has  the  nom- 
ination of  the  prelates,  these  have  the  right  of  ordaining 
the  clergy,  and  from  among  these,  lay  patrons,  determined 
by  a  money  qualification  alone,  are  empowered  by  the  State 

^  Deut.  iv.  1,  2.  M  Chron.  xxviii.  11. 

^  1  Chron.  xxviii.  11-19. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  MOSAIC  LAW.     75 

to  select  the  pastors  of  the  churches  ;  so  that  the  pastors 
of  the  churches  are  mainly  determined  by  the  State. 

In  Israel  the  incomes  of  the  priests  were  settled  without 
the  authority  of  the  State  ;  in  England  their  incomes  are 
furnished  by  the  authority  of  the  State  alone. 

In  Israel  the  priests  were  determined  by  God  ;  in  En- 
gland the  prelates  are  nominated  by  the  State. 

In  Israel  kings  and  nobles  could  raise  no  unfit  person  to 
ministry  ;  in  England  patrons  can  practically  secure  their 
livings  to  any  of  their  nominees  who  have  fair  capacity  and 
good  morals. 

In  Israel  no  congregation  had  a  pastor  imposed  on  them 
by  the  State  ;  in  England  nearly  all  the  churches  have 
pastors  so  imposed  upon  them. 

Since,  therefore,  during  the  Mosaic  economy,  God  so 
guarded  the  priesthood  that  no  one  could  enter  it  except  by 
his  express  appointment,  and  the  State  had  no  power  what- 
ever in  the  matter,  he  has  thereby ,  condemned  the  union 
through  which  the  State,  without  his  authority,  assumes 
the  appointment  of  the  ministers  of  a  much  more  spiritual 
religion. 

4.  By  the  Mosaic  law  all  the  Jewish  citizens  were  re- 
ligiously equal.  The  State  created  no  rivalry  by  exalting 
one  sect  above  another,  so  that  when  the  great  festivals 
gathered  together  the  devout  worshipers  of  God  Irom  every 
place,  they  met  as  a  holy  brotherhood,  without  any  of  the 
sources  of  jealousy  arising  from  civil  distinctions  established 
by  law.  But  in  the  English  union,  one  among  several 
sects,  equally  evangelical,  is  placed  by  the  State  above  all 
the  rest,  whereby  jealousy  and  division  are  excited  in  the 
Christian  family.  The  Mosaic  system  treated  all  the  wor- 
shipers of  God  as  on  perfect  equality  :  the  Anglican  system 
unjustly  exalts  one  sect,  and  depresses  all  the  rest.  In 
Scotland  the  Presbyterian  is  exalted,  the  Episcopalian  is 
depressed ;  in  England  the  Episcopalian  is  exalted,  the 
Presbyterian  depressed.  In  both  parts  of  the  kingdom, 
therefore,  the  system  is  so  opposite  to  the  Mosaic,  that  if 
the  latter  was  agreeable  to  his  will,  the  former  must  be 
opposed  to  it. 


76  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

5.  The  Mosaic  law  allowed  of  no  compulsory  payments 
for  the  support  of  religion.  As  God  commanded  his  people 
to  love  him  with  all  their  heart,  so  he  commanded  them 
to  pay  a  tithe  of  the  land  to  the  Levites.^  But  as  the 
magistrate  could  not  compel  the  Israelite  to  obey  the  first 
of  these  commands,  so  he  could  not  compel  obedience  to  the 
second.  In  both  cases  the  conscience  of  the  worshiper 
was  the  only  allowed  compulsion  ;  no  legal  process  was 
appointed  for  the  recovery  of  the  tithes  by  the  priests  ;  no 
magistrate  was  empowered  to  collect  them  ;  and  as  the 
Almighty  forbade  that  any  additions  should  be  made  to  the 
Mosaic  law,2  no  law  to  enforce  their  payment  could  be 
passed  afterward.  Accordingly  their  payment  throughout 
the  Jewish  history  was  voluntary.  In  the  reformation 
effected  by  Nehemiah,  B.C.  444,  the  chiefs  and  the  people 
entered  into  a  solemn  covenant  to  pay  their  tithes,^  which 
would  have  been  unnecessary  if  the  Levites  could  have 
extorted  payment  by  distraint  or  otherwise.  Notwith- 
standing that  covenant  the  tithes  were  not  paid  ;  for  about 
ten  years  after  this  time  the  prophet  Malachi  was  directed 
to  address  the  people  thus  :  "  JVill  a  man  rob  God  ?  yet 
ye  luive  robbed  me.  But  ye  say,  Wherein  have  ive  rob- 
bed thee  ?  In  tithes  and  offerings.  Ye  are  cursed  ivith 
a  curse,  for  ye  have  robbed  me,  even  this  ivhole  nation. 
Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse,  that  there  may 
be  meat  in  my  hmose."^  When  Nehemiah  revisited  Jeru- 
salem the  tithe  was  still  unpaid.^  These  are  facts  which 
prove  that  the  Levites  had  no  legal  redress  if  their  tithes 
were  withheld.  In  the  time  of  our  Lord's  ministry,  there 
was  still  the  same  liberty,  otherwise  the  Pharisee  could  not 
have  said,  with  boastful  self-complacency,  "  I  give  tithes 
of  all  that  I  possess  ;"  nor  could  our  Lord  have  adduced 
the  payment  of  the  tithe  of  mint,  anise,  and  cummin,  as  a 
proof  of  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisee.^  "  The  payment 
and  appreciation  of  the  tithe  Moses  left  to  the  consciences 
of  the  people,  without  subjecting  them  to  judicial  or  sacer- 

^  Numb,  xxviii.  21 ;  Lev.  xxvii.  30.  ^  Deut.  iv.  1,  2. 

3  Neh.  X.  29-37.  *  Mai.  iii.  8-10.  ^  Neh.  xiii.  10. 

«  Luke  xviii.  12.  13:  Matt,  xxiii.  23. 


THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  MOSAIC  LAW.      77 

dotal  visitations  ;"  ^  and  no  Jewish  king  could  make  the 
slightest  alteration  in  this  arrangement.  God  loves  a 
cheerful  giver, ^  and  would  no  more  allow  the  State  to  en- 
force payments  in  support  of  religion  than  he  would  allow 
it  to  compel  men  to  profess  to  love  him.  All  duty  to  him 
was  to  be  free  firom  human  dictation.  The  support  of 
religion  would  be  degraded  if  it  ceased  to  be  spontaneous  : 
spontaneous  zeal  paid  tithe  ;  spontaneous  contributions  first 
built  and  then  repaired  both  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple  ; 
and  if  the  sovereigns  of  Judea  contributed  to  these  works,  it 
was  from  their  private  property,  and  not  from  any  public 
fund  raised  by  the  taxation  of  their  subjects.  By  thus 
securing  in  the  Mosaic  economy  that  all  such  payments 
should  be  free,  not  even  allowing  the  priests  to  obtain  their 
tithes  by  any  legal  process,  God  has  condemned  all  com- 
pulsory payments  for  the  support  of  religion.  But  with  us 
the  State,  having  granted  to  the  clergy  their  rent-charges 
and  their  church-rates,  enforces  the  payment  of  them  ;  and 
if  any  reluctant  nonconformist  refuses  payment,  it  is  ex- 
torted by  distraint.  Our  system,  therefore,  rests  upon  the 
compulsory  payments  which  God  has  by  the  Mosaic  law 
condemned. 

6.  In  all  their  great  features,  the  Mosaic  and  the  Angli- 
can systems  for  the  maintenance  of  religion  are  directly 
opposed  ;  and  as  the  one  has  the  sanction  of  the  Almighty, 
the  other  must  be  contrary  to  his  will.  The  Mosaic  sepa- 
ration of  the  Church  and  State  condemns  our  union  of  the 
two,  whatever  the  character  of  the  State  may  be.  Our 
system  would  remain  unscriptural  and  mischievous  if  ad- 
ministered by  kings  like  David  and  by  statesmen  like  Daniel ; 
but  it  becomes  more  glaringly  opposed  to  the  practice  of 
the  Old  Testament  when  we  consider  that  it  is  adminis- 
tered by  a  State  which  is  irrehgious.  What  part  did  un- 
godly kings  take,  by  divine  appointment,  in  the  religious 
affairs  of  the  Jews  ?  In  what  degree  were  Saul  and 
Manasseh  commissioned  to  superintend  the  creed,  the  wor- 
ship, or  the  discipline  of  the  church  of  God  in  their  king- 

1  Home's  "Introduction,"  part  iii.  chap.  3,  sect.  6. 
8  2  Cor.  ix.  7. 


78  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

dom  ?  They  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Had  there  been 
a  union  like  ours,  it  would  have  subsisted  through  each 
successive  reign,  whatever  might  be  the  character  of  the 
sovereign  :  the  church  would  have  been  as  much  united  to 
Saul  as  to  David,  to  Rehoboam  as  to  Solomon,  to  Manasseh 
as  to  Hezekiah  ;  but  it  was  not  in  the  least  united  to  either 
of  these  three  ungodly  princes.  They  had  no  episcopate  to 
discharge,  no  right  to  interfere  ;  the  system  was  complete 
without  their  aid,  and  went  on  as  if  they  had  not  been  in 
existence.  According,  therefore,  to  the  precedents  of  the 
Old  Testament,  whatever  influence  might  be  allowed  to  a 
pious  State,  an  irreligious  State  ought  to  have  none  ;  but 
our  State,  in  its  most  powerful  member  representing  an 
irreligious  majority,  must  generally  be  irreligious  ;  and  as 
the  Mosaic  system  excluded  the  irreligious  king  from  all 
control  over  the  priesthood,  so  the  English  system  ought  to 
exclude  an  irreligious  House  of  Commons  from  all  control 
over  the  ministers  of  the  churches.  If,  when  the  people 
were  ignorant  and  barbarous,  God  would  not  permit  irre- 
ligious kings  to  exercise  any  control  over  the  religion  of  the 
country,  much  less  does  he  permit  an  irreligious  State  to 
control  the  churches  of  instructed  and  enlightened  Chris- 
tians. If  in  the  mere  carnal  dispensation  he  appointed  a 
system  where  every  detail  was  regulated  by  himself,  and 
the  expenditure  was  sustained  spontaneously  by  the  people, 
much  more  in  this  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  (diaKovia  rov 
Uvevfiarog)  must  he  require  that  the  churches  {EKKXriaiai 
rdv  ayiu)v)  follow  exclusively  the  directions  of  his  word, 
and  spontaneously  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  his  wor- 
ship. To  infer  that  because  there  was  one  tithe  system  in 
Judea  there  may  be  lawfully  an  opposite  tithe  system  in 
England,  is  to  be  willfully  deceived.  As  long  as  it  remains 
on  record  that  irreligious  Jewish  kings  were  not  permitted 
by  the  Mosaic  law  to  tax  their  subjects  for  the  payment  of 
the  priests,  or  to  raise  to  the  priesthood  others  than  those 
who  were  appointed  by  God,  or  to  make  ecclesiastical  laws, 
or  to  prohibit  the  priests  from  assembling  to  consider  how 
they  might  effect  a  reformation  of  their  church  when  cor- 
rupt, or  to  nominate  State-paid  pastors  for  the  congrega- 


CONDEMNED  BY  OLD-TESTAMENT  PROPHECIES.     79 

tions  of  their  towns  and  villages,  or  to  exalt  one  class  of 
Jewish  worshipers  by  depressing  all  the  rest,  or  to  compel 
by  force  their  subjects  to  pay  for  the  support  of  an  eccle- 
siastical  machinery  of  their  own  invention — so  long  the 
Mosaic  law  must  condemn  all  these  practices,  which  are 
involved  in  the  Anglican  union  of  the  Church  with  the 
State. 


Section  V. —  The  Union  condemned  by  the  Prophecies 
of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  ultimate  condition  of  the  church  of  Christ  on  earth 
will,  according  to  the  predictions  of  the  Old  Testament,  be 
extremely  glorious.  Immediately  after  the  fall  our  Creator 
declared  to  the  tempter  that  the  Saviour  to  come  should  bruise 
(or  crush)  his  head.  ^  This  earliest  prophecy  was  illustrated 
and  amplified  by  subsequent  predictions  in  the  following 
terms  :  "  The  scepter  shall  not  depart  from,  Judah  till 
Shiloh   {the  peaceable)   come,   and   unto   him   sJudl   the 

gathering  of  the  peoples  (D'S^)  be Ask  of  me,  and 

I  shall  give  thee  the  heathen  (d;iJ,  nations)  for  thine  in- 
heritance, and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy 

'possession All  the  ends  of  the  world  shall  remember 

and  turn  unto  the  Lord,  and  all  the  kindreds  of  the  na- 
tions shall  ivorship  before  thee All  kings  shall  fall 

down  before  him :  all  nations  shall  serve  him?" / 

saiv  in  the  iiight  visions,  and,  behold,  one  like  the  Son 
of  man  came  ivith  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  came  to  the 
Ancient  of  Days,  and  they  brought  him  near  before  him. 
And  there  was  given  him  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a 
kingdom,  that  all  people,  nations,  aiul  languages  shoidd 
serve  him.^.  .  .  .  Of  the  increase  of  his  government  and 
peace  there  shall  be  no  end''  ■* 

The  universal  dominion  of  Christ  predicted  in  these  pas- 
sages involves  the  universal  extension  and  prosperity  of  the 
church  ;  and  these  are  likewise  predicted  in  the  following 
terms  :   ''It  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days  that  the 

1  Gen.  iii.  15.         *  Gen.  xlix.  10  ;  Ps.  ii.  8 ;  xxii.  27  ;  Ixxii.  11. 
3  Dan.  vii.  13, 14.  ^  Isaiah  ix.  7. 


80  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

mountain  of  the  Lord's  Jioicse  shall  be  established  on  the 
tojo  of  the  mountains,  and  sluill  be  exalted  above  the  hills, 
and  all  "nations  slwll  flow  unto  it}.  .  .  .  Arise,  shine,  for 
thy  light  is  cmne,  a?td  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen  upon 

thee And  the  Gentiles  (D]ii,  nations)  shall  come  to 

thy  light,  and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  thy  rising 

For  the  tioMon  and  the  kingdom  that  will  not  serve  thee 
sJudl  perish.'"^ 

According  to  these  prophecies  all  nations  must  flow  to 
Zion,  and  serve  it.  At  the  same  time  it  was  declared  that 
multitudes  within  the  Jewish  nation  would  reject  Christ.^ 
These  would  be  given  up  to  hardness  of  heart/  and  suffer 
just  punishment.^  The  promises  were  not  made  to  them, 
but  to  the  pious  part  of  the  nation,^  These  became  Christ- 
ians,"'' and  are  the  true  Israel,^  who,  with  Gentile  Christ- 
ians united  to  them,  are  the  one  holy  nation,  the  Zion  of 
God.^  To  this  spiritual  Zion  the  promises  of  the  Old 
Testament  relating  to  the  Gospel  era  are  made.  The 
following  prophecy  in  Isaiah  liv.  places  this  truth  in  a 
clear  light :  "  Sijig,  O  barren,  thou  that  didst  not  bear  ; 
break  forth  into  singing,  and  cry  aloud,  thou  that  didst 
not  travail  with  child :  for  more  are  the  children  of  the 
desolate  tha?i  the  children  of  the  inari-ied  ivife,  saith  the 
Lord.  Enlarge  the  place  of  thy  tent,  and  let  them  stretch 
forth  the  curtain  of  thy  habitations  :  spare  not,  lengthen 
thy  cords  and  strengthen  thy  stakes  ;  for  thorn  shall  break 
forth  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  and  thy  seed  slmll 
inherit  the  Gentiles,  and  ^tnake  the  desolate  cities  to  be  in- 
Jzabited.'' '^^  This  prediction  is  explained  by  the  Apostle 
Paul  in  his  fourth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians, 
thus  :  "  Tell  me  ye  that  desire  to  be  under  the  law,  do 
ye  not  hear  the  law  ?  For  it  is  written,  that  Abraliam 
had  two  sons,  the  one  by  a  bond-maid,  the  other  by  a  free- 

^  Isa.  ii.  2.  2  isa.  Ix.  1,  3,  12. 

•■'  Isa.  liii.  1-4  ;  John  xii.  37.  *  Isa.  vi.  9-12  ;  John  xii.  39. 

«  Gal.  iv.  21-30;   1  Thess.  ii.  14-16. 

6  Isa.  vi.  13;   Joel  ii.  32;   Rom.  ix.  6-8,  22-24;  xi.  1-10. 

'  Acts  ii.  41-47  ;  iv.  4  ;  v.  14  ;  vi.  7  ;  xxi.  20.  ^  Rom.  ix.  8. 

9  1  Pet.  ii.  9  ;  Gal.  iii.  7,  29 ;  iv.  25-31  ;  Rom.  ix.  8 ;  Heb.  xii 

22,  23.  10  Isa.  liv.  1-3. 


CONDEMNED  BY  OLD-TESTAMENT  PROPHECIES.     81 

woman.  But  he  ivlio  teas  of  the  hond-icoman  vms  horn 
after  the  flesh,  hut  he  of  the  free-icoman  teas  by  iiroinhe. 
Which  things  are  an  allegory :  for  these  are  the  tico 
covenants;  the  07iefroni  the  Mount  Sinai,  which  gender eth 
the  bondage,  which  is  Agar.  For  this  Agar  is  Mount 
Sinai,  in  Arabia^  and  answereth  to  Jerusalem  ichich  now 
is,  and  is  in  bondage  ivith  her  children.  But  Jerusalem 
which  is  above  is  free,  which  is  the  mother  of  us  all. 
For  it  is  written,  Rejoice,  thou  barren  that  eearest 
not  ;  break  forth  and  cry,  thou  that  travailest  not  '. 
for  the  desolate  hath  many  more  children  than  she 
WHICH  HATH  AN  HUSBAND.  Noiv  wc,  brethren,  as  Isaac 
was,  are  the  children  of  promise.  But  as  then  he  that 
was  born  after  the  flesh  persecMted  him  that  was  born 
after  the  spirit,  even  so  it  is  7wiv.  Nevertheless,  tvhat 
saith  the  Scripture  ?  Cast  out  the  hondwoman  and  her 
son  ;  for  the  son  of  the  ho7idivoman  shall  not  he  heir  with 
the  son  of  the  free-ivoman.  So  then,  brethren,  ive  are  not 
children  of  the  hondivoman,  but  of  the  free. '^  Here  are  two 
communities  ;  the  one  is  represented  as  a  married  wife,  the 
second  as  a  wife  who  has  been  put  away  and  is  desolate. 
By  the  first  is  intended  the  Jewish  nation,  long  enjoying 
the  privileges  of  God's  chosen  people  ;  by  the  second  is  in- 
tended the  spiritual  Israel,  the  church  of  God  within  that 
nation.  The  first  was  typified  by  Hagar,  the  bondwoman 
married  to  Abraham  ;  the  second  by  Sarah,  who  was  so 
long  childless  and  desolate.  The  first  was  the  Jewish 
nation  in  bondage  under  the  law,  Avhich  God  intended  to 
cast  out,  as  Hagar  was  dismissed  by  Abraham  ;  the  second 
was  the  church  of  Christ,  which,  like  Sarah,  was  free;  and 
the  children  of  which,  by  the  accession  of  Gentile  converts, 
were  to  become  more  numerous  than  the  Jewish  nation 
had  ever  been. 

The  unconverted  Jews,  like  Ishmael,  are  in  bondage, 
and  cast  out  of  the  favor  of  God  ;  while  all  believers, 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  are,  like  Isaac,  the  children  of  promise 
and  the  heirs  of  the  promised  blessings.  It  follows  from 
this  apostolic  exposition  of  the  prophecy,  that  the  com- 
munity addressed  in  Isaiah  liv.  is  the  spiritual  Jerusalem 


82  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

or  Zion,  the  church  of  Christ.  A  comparison  of  Isaiah  liv. 
with  Isaiah  Ix.  shows  clearly  that  the  same  community  is 
addressed  in  both  predictions  ;  and,  therefore,  Isaiah  Ix.  is 
also  addressed  to  the  church  of  Christ,  and  under  the  name 
of  Zion  ;  and  to  this  church  are  all  the  promises  made  in 
the  closing-  chapters  of  the  prophet  Isaiah. 

To  this  spiritual  Zion,  the  church  of  Christ,  was  this 
promise  given  :  ''All  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the 
Lord.'^  ^  Upon  which  passage  our  Lord  made  the  follow- 
ing comment :  ''It  is  written  in  the  prophets,  And  they 
shall  be  all  taught  of  God.    Every  man,  therepore,  that 

HATH  HEARD  AND  HATH  LEARNED  OF  THE  FaTHER,  COMETH 

UNTO  ME."^  Now,  since  all  who  have  received  the  Scrip- 
tures certainly  do  not  come  to  Christ,  this  divine  teaching 
must  be  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit,  which  both  enlightens 
the  understanding  and  converts  the  heart.  No  one  who  is 
destitute  of  this  teaching  is  a  citizen  of  Zion,  a  member  of 
the  church  of  Christ.  As  then,  the  church  is  holy,  every  one 
of  its  members  being  taught  of  God,  so  the  weapons  of  its 
warfare  are  to  be  spiritual,  not  carnal  —  spiritual  and  not 
carnal  means  are  to  accomplish  its  ultimate  and  most  deci- 
sive triumphs. 

"  Thus  speaketh  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  saying,  Behold  the 
man  wlwse  name  is  The  Branch  ;  and  he  shall  groiv  up 
out  of  his  place,  and  he  shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord.''  ^ 
The  church  is  God's  building,^  in  which  every  stone  is  a 
living  stone, ^  of  which  every  part  is  the  holy  dwelling-place 
of  the  Spirit ;  ^  of  which  no  man  forms  a  part  who  does  not 
hold  fast  his  bold  confession  of  Christ,  and  his  joyful  con- 
fidence in  him  to  the  end.'''  This  temple  is  to  be  completed 
by  Christ,  by  his  Spirit,  and  by  such  means  as  he  alone 
originates.  Unless,  therefore,  the  means  employed  by  the 
union  for  the  promotion  of  the  welfare  of  the  church  are 
such  as  have  his  authority  (which  they  are  not),  they  are 
contrary  to  his  will,  as  declared  by  this  prediction. 

Of  this  church  there  are,  further,  three  things  declared 

1  Isa.  liv.  13.  2  joi^n  vi.  45.  ^  Zech.  vi.  12,  13 

<  1  Cor.  iii.  9.  '  1  Pet.  ii.  5.  «  Eph.  ii.  18-22. 

7  Heb.  iii.  6. 


CONDEMNED  BY  OLD-TESTAMENT  PROPHECIES.     83 

by  the  prophets  which  condemn  the  union  as  now  existing 
in  our  country. 

1.  Let  us  recall  a  part  of  the  prophetic  vision  Avhich 
was  presented  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  which  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  Daniel :  "  Thou  saivest  till  that  a  stone  ivas 
cut  out  WITHOUT  HANDS,  wJiich  siuote  the  image  upon  his 
feet  that  %vere  of  iron  and  clay,  and  brake  them  to  pieces. 
Then  teas  the  irmi,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver,  and  the 

gold,  hroken  to  pieces  together,  and  became  like  the  chaff 
of  the  summer  threshing-floors ;  a'nd  the  wind  carried 
them  aicay,  that  no  place  iv as  found  for  them  :  aiid,  the 

STONE  THAT  SMOTE  THE  IMAGE  BECAME  A  GREAT  MOUNTAIN, 
AND  FILLED   THE  WHOLE  EARTH."  ^ 

.The  four  metals  composing  the  image  being  declared  to 
be  four  great  successive  Icingdoms,  the  prophet  Daniel  thus 
expounded  the  symbolic  fact  that  the  stone  struck  and  de- 
stroyed the  image  :  ''In  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the 
God  of  heave7i  set  up  a  kijigdom  %chich  sliall  never  be 
destroyed:  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to  other 
people,  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  these 
kifigdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  forever'"^  The  church  of 
Christ  was,  according  to  this  prediction,  formed  in  the 
apostolic  age  by  the  power  of  God  alone  ;  it  did  strike  the 
Roman  empire,  when  in  its  degenerate  days  it  was  formed 
of  Romans  and  barbarians  intermingled  ;  it  has  completely 
subverted  those  four  pagan  empires  ;  and  it  is  now  growing 
into  that  vast  and  wide-spread  community  which  is  ulti- 
mately to  fill  the  world. 

2.  To  this  church  has  God  thus  promised  the  perpetual 
aid  of  his  Spirit :  "  My  Spirit  that  is  upon  thee,  a7id  my 
icords  tvhich  I  have  put  in  thy  mouth,  shall  not  depart 
out  of  thy  mouth,  7ior  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out 
of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  saith  the  Lord,  from  hence- 
forth and  forever.'^ And  it  sliall  come  to  pass  after- 

ivard  tlmt  I  will  pcncr  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh.'"  ^ 

3.  God  has  given  to  this  church  these  further  promises  : 
"  It  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  tliat  the  moun- 

^  Dan.  ii.  34,  35.  ^  pan.  ii.  44.  ^  Isaiah  lix.  21. 

*  Joel  ii.  28-32,  with  Acts  ii.  14-20;  and  Rom.  x.  12-15. 


84  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

tain  of  the  Lord's  house  (Mount  Zion,  the  church  of  Christ 
— Gal.  iv.  26  ;  Heb.  xii.  22),  shall  he  established  in  the 
top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted  above  the 
hills  ;  AND  ALL  NATIONS  SHALL  FLOW  UNTO  IT.  And  many 
•people  illations,  D-S^)  slwdl  go  and  my,  Come  ye,  and 
let  lis  go  up  to  the  moimitain  of  the  Lord,  to  the  house 
of  the  God  of  Jacob  ;  and  he  ivill  teach  us  of  his  ways, 
and  ive  will  walk  in  his  paths  ;  for  out  of  Zion  shall  go 
forth  the  law,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem} 
....  Behold,  thou  shalt  call  a  nation  that  thou  knxnvest 
fiot,  and  nations  that  knew  ')iot  thee  sJmll  run  unto  thee 
because  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  for  the  Holy  One  of 

Israel ;  for  he  hath  glorified  thee For  ye  shall  go 

out  with  joy,  a7id  be  led  forth  with  peace  :  the  mountains 
and  the  hills  shall  bi-eak  forth  before  you  into  singi7ig, 
and  all  the  trees  of  the  field  shall  clap  their  hands}  .... 
Arise,  shine  ;  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  is  risen  upon  thee.  For,  behold,  the  darkness  shall 
cover  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people  ;  but  the 
Lord  shall  arise  upon  thee,  and  his  glory  shall  be  seen 
upon  thee.      And  the   Gentiles  shall  come  to  thy  light, 

and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  thy  rising For  the 

TWJtion  and  kingdom  that  ivill  7iot  serve  thee  shall  perish; 
yea,  those  nations  shall  he  utterly  ivasted."^.  .  .  .  And  the 
kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom 
under  the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High,  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting 
kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve  a7ul  obey  him  ;  * 
....  And  kings  sJiall  be  thy  nursing  fathers,  a7id  their 
queens  thij  nursing-7nothers ;   they  shall  bow  down  to 

THEE  WITH  THEIR  FACE  TOWARD  THE  EARTH,  AND  LICK  UF 
THE  DUST  OF   THY  FEET."  ^ 

These  predictions  can  not  receive  their  full  accomplish- 
ment till  the  churches  be  separated  from  the  States  through- 
out the  world.  According  to  prophecy,  the  church  which 
was  originally  cut  out  from  the  ungodly  mass  of  the  world 
by  divine  power  without  the  aid  of  governments,  is  to  grow 

^  Isaiah  ii.  2,  3.  '  Isaiah  Iv.  6, 12.  ^  jgajah  Ix.  1-3, 12. 

*  Dan.  vii.  27.  *  U-aiah  xlix.  23. 


CONDEMNED  BY  OLD-TESTAINIENT  PROrHEClES.     85 

into  a  great  mountain  and  fill  the  whole  earth.  It  is  not 
to  be  piled  up  by  human  governments,  but  to  groiv  through 
divine  power.  It  grows  through  gKice.  (Acts  ii.  47  ;  Eph. 
ii.  21  ;  iv.  15,  16.) 

According  to  prophecy,  the  church  is  to  look  for  the 
effusion  of  the  Spirit  upon  all  flesh  as  the  great  cause  of  its 
ultimate  triumph ;  whatever,  therefore,  in  the  churches 
tends  to  grieve  and  to  quench  the  Spirit — whatever  makes 
the  churches  worldly — whatever  leads  them  to  lean  upon 
the  arm  of  flesh  rather  than  of  God,  tends  to  prevent  the 
accomplishment  of  its  promised  triumphs. 

But  the  union  does  all  these  things,  as  I  shall  hereafter 
show. 

Accordhig  to  prophecy,  all  nations  are  to  flow  to  the 
church  of  Christ  through  its  spiritual  glory  and  its  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel.  But  the  union  corrupts  it,  and  impedes 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  ;  and  therefore  the  union  is 
preventing  its  extension  and  triumph. 

According  to  prophecy,  kings  and  their  queens,  becoming 
pious,  are  to  promote  the  progress  of  religion,  as  David  and 
Hezekiah,  by  their  personal  services.  But  by  the  union 
irreligious  governments  force  their  reluctant  subjects  to  sup- 
port good  and  bad  ministers  indiscriminately. 

According  to  prophecy,  pious  kings  and  their  queens  are 
to  be  as  fathers  and  mothers  to  the  whole  church  of  Christ 
within  their  dominions,  but  by  the  union  the  sovereign  is 
made  to  rend  the  church,  exalting  one  part  to  an  unbrotherly 
superiority,  and  unjustly  depressing  and  harassing  the  other. 
According  to  prophecy,  pious  kings  and  queens,  as  sim- 
ple members  of  the  church  of  Chrisi,  are  to  serve  it ;  but 
by  the  union  an  irreligious  government  binds  the  churches 
hand  and  foot,  rules  over  them  with  a  rod  of  iron,  will  al- 
low no  self-government,  no  reformation,  no  independent 
discipline,  and  is  their  absolute,  irresponsible  lord. 

Thus  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  condemn  the 
union,  no  less  than  the  history  of  Christian  churches  con- 
demns it.  These  show  it  to  be  unscriptural,  as  this  mani- 
fests its  inexpediency  ;  and  both  concur  in  making  many  ear- 
nest and  enlightened  men  wish  ardently  for  its  dissolution. 


86  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

Section  YI.— The  Unimi  condemned  by  the  New 
Testament. 

We  have  seen  that  the  union  is  condemned  hoth  by  the 
Mosaic  law,  and  by  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament ; 
but  its  most  direct  and  severe  condemnation  is  to  be  found 
in  the  New.  Here  its  more  cautious  advocates  are  con- 
tent to  stand  on  the  defensive  :  and  maintaining  that  the 
New  Testament  is  silent  on  the  subject,  expend  their  efforts 
in  the  attempt  to  evade  the  force  of  the  condemnatory 
passages.  Bolder  champions  have,  however,  declared  its 
authority  to  be  in  their  favor,  and  find  passages  in  which 
they  think  that  a  national  Establishment  is  clearly  justified. 
One  of  these  is  the  following  parable  in  the  thirteenth  chap- 
ter of  St.  Matthew  : — "  The  kingdom,  of  heaven  is  like 
unto  a  net  that  was  cast  into  the  sea,  and  gathered  of 
every  kind  ;  which,  when  it  was  full,  they  drew  to  slwre, 
and  sat  doivn,  and  gathered  the  good  into  vessels,  but  cast 
the  bad  away.''  This  parable  seems  to  a  zealous  writer 
to  indicate  "  a  visible  society,  including  multitudes  who  are 
not  spiritual,"  a  baptized  nation — a  national  Establish- 
ment.^ His  statement  is  not  very  distinct,  but  by  the  net 
he  seems  to  understand  a  national  church  in  which  bad 
and  good  are  to  remain  quietly  together,  as  the  bad  fish 
and  the  good  in  the  net.  But  if  this  be  his  meaning,  his 
exposition  makes  the  parable  contradict  several  plain  com- 
mands, which  urge  the  churches  to  excommunicate  offend- 
ing members,  and  to  maintain  communion  with  those  alone 
who  are  living  consistently  with  their  profession.  "  More- 
over, if  thy  brother  shall  trespass  against  thee,  go  and  tell 
him  his  fault  between  thee  and  him  alone :  if  he  shall 
hear  thee,  thou  hast  gained  thy  brother.  But  if  he  icill 
not  hear  thee,  then  take  with  thee  one  or  two  more,  that 
in  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses  every  word  may  be 
established.  And  if  he  sliall  neglect  to  hear  them,  tell  it 
unto  the  church  ;  but  if  he  neglect  to  hear  the  church, 

LET  HIM  be  unto  THEE  AS  A  HEATHEN  MAN  AND  A  PUBLICAN.^ 

^  Lectures  on  the  Church  of  England,  lecture  iv.  p.  165. 
'  Matt,  xviii.  15-17. 


COxNDExMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  87 

.  .  .  Noiv  I  beseech  you,  hrethrcn,  mark  tliem  which 
cause  divisions  mul  offenses  contrary  to  the  doctrine 
which  ye  Imve  learned,  and  avoid  them}  .  .  ,  Noiv  I 
have  written  unto  you  not  to  keep  compamj,  if  any  man 
tlmt  is  called  a  brother  be  a  foryiicator,  or  covetous,  or  an 
idolater,  or  a  railer,  or  a  drunkard,  or  an  extortioner ; 
with  such  a  one  no  not  to  eat.  Therefore  put  aivay  from 
ammig  yourselves  that  ivicked  perscm}  .  .  .  Be  ye  not  un- 
equally yoked  together  tvith  unbelievers,  for  ivhat  fellow- 
ship hath  Q-ighteousness  with  unrighteousness  ?  and  what 
communio7i  Jmth  light  with  darkness  ?  Wherefore  come 
out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate.'^  .  .  .  I  woidd 
they  tvere  even  cut  off  which  trouble  you}  .  .  .  Noiv  ice 
command  you  brethren,  in  the  name  of  our  Lard  Jesus 
Christ,  that  ye  ivithdraiv  yourselves  from  every  brother 
that  lualketh  disorderly,  and  not  after  the  tradition  ivhich 
he  received  of  us.  And  if  any  man  obey  not  our  word 
by  this  epistle,  note  tJiat  man,  and  Jiave  no  company  ivith 
him,  that  he  may  be  ashamed.^  ,  .  .  A  man  that  is  a 
heretic  after  the  first  and  second  admonition  reject.^  .  .  . 
I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,  because  thott  hast  there 
them  that  hold  the  doctrine  of  Balaam,  who  taught  Balac 
to  cast  a  stumhlijig-block  before  the  children  of  Israel,  to 
eat  things  sacrificed  unto  idols,  and  to  cmnmit  fornication. 
So  hast  thou  also  them  that  hold  the  doctrine  of  the  Ni- 
colaitanes,  tvhich  thing  I  hate.'''' 

As  the  idea  that  the  parable  before  us  allows  a  church 
to  retain  in  its  communion  the  bad  and  good,  the  vicious 
and  the  virtuous,  the  profane  and  the  pious,  the  schismati- 
cal  and  the  peaceable,  is  at  variance  with  these  passages  ; 
so  it  is  also  inconsistent  with  the  design  of  the  parable 
itself. 

If  the  parable  meant  that  a  national  Establishment 
should  gather  into  its  fold  the  good  and  the  evil,  that  a 
whole  nation  should  be  caught  in  the  ecclesiastical  net, 
then  it  could  have  no  fulfillment  for  the  first  three  centuries  ; 

1  Rom.  xvi.  17.  ^  1  Cor.  v.  11,  13.       ^  2  Cor.  vi.  14,  17. 

*  Gal.  V.  12.  ^2  Thess.  iii.  6, 14.    ^  Titus  m.  10. 

'  Hev.  ii.  14,  15 


68  GEiNERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

and  its  language  would  have  been  not  "  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like,"  but  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven  will  be  like," 
for  it  certainly  was  not  formed  of  national  Establishments 
then  :  but  the  net  means  not  the  church  but  the  doctrine 
of  the  Gospel.  "  The  net  is  the  Gospel.  The  fishers  are 
the  apostles.  Evangelical  preaching  brings  all  to  Christ. 
The  Gospel  collects  men  of  every  sort."  ^  "It  is  neither 
the  church  visible  nor  invisible,  [but]  the  doctrine  of  the 
apostles,  made  by  Christ  fishers  of  men,  which  is  here  com- 
pared to  a  net."^  When  our  Lord  said  to  his  apostles, 
"  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men"  ^  he  clearly  meant  that 
their  net  should  be  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  When 
St.  Paul  wrote  to  the  Corinthians,  "  I  canght  you  with 
guile,"*  his  net  was  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  his  conduct 
was  the  management  of  the  net.  Hence  this  parable  re- 
ceives its  accomplishment  whenever  any  Christian  what- 
ever so  speaks  of  Christ  as  to  draw  some  to  receive  it 
sincerely,  and  some  to  be  convinced  of  its  truth  while  they 
yet  remain  unconverted. 

If  any  one  imagines  that  the  net  might  mean  the  church, 
because  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  said  to  be  like  the  net, 
and  they  suppose  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  mean  the 
church,  let  him  apply  this  reasoning  to  other  parables.  In 
verse  24  we  read,  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  likened  unto 
a  man  which  sowed  good  seed,"  therefore  the  church  is  this 
sower  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  "  He  that  soweth  the  good 
seed  is  the  Son  of  man."  ^  In  verse  44  we  read,  "  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  treasure  hid  in  a  field," 
&c.,  and  in  verse  45,  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto 
a  merchantman  seeking  goodly  pearls/'  &c.  So  that  the 
church  is  both  the  treasure  and  the  purchaser,  which  is 
absurd.  The  expression,  therefore,  does  not  mean  that  the 
church  is  like  the  net,  but  that  in  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom,  or  reign,  of  Christ  in  the  world,  the  preaching  of 

^  "  Verriculum  evangelium  est  .  .  .  Piscatores  apostoli  sunt  .  .  . 
Evangelica  praedicatio  omnes  ad  Christum  adducit  .  .  .  Evangelium 
colligit  omnis  generis  homines." — Bullinger  ad  loc. 

2  Whitby.  3  Matt.  iv.  19. 

*  2  Cor.  xii.  16.  »  See  Verse  37. 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  89 

Christ  is  like  this  net.  And  this  being  the  case,  it  follows, 
first,  that  the  parable  does  not  justify  the  neglect  of  dis- 
cipline in  any  church,  or  the  admission  into  the  church  of 
any  one  known  to  be  ungodly,  for  the  design  of  the  fisher- 
man is  to  catch  the  good  fish  and  not  the  bad  ;  and  as 
soon  as  the  bad  fish  are  discovered,  upon  the  net  being 
drawn  to  the  shore,  they  are  cast  away.  So  that  the 
parable  rather  speaks  of  those  professed  Christians  who  are 
not  known  to  be  wicked  than  of  those  who  are  openly  so. 
And,  secondly,  the  parable  can  not  justify  the  Anglican 
system,  in  which  the  infants  of  the  nation  are  indiscrimin- 
ately brought  into  the  church  by  baptism,  because  it  refers 
to  the  effect  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ  upon  the  minds  of 
men,  and  not  the  efiect  of  a  sacrament  upon  infancy.  So 
far  from  justifying,  in  this  parable,  the  indiscriminate  fel- 
lowship of  the  godly  and  the  profane  in  a  national  Estab- 
lishment, our  Lord  simply  teaches  that  many  would  profit 
to  receive  the  Gospel  who  were  not  converted  and  sanctified 
by  it ;  and  that  these  will  be  separated  from  believers  at 
the  judgment-day,  though  unavoidably  associated  with  them 
now. 

Another  argument  for  an  Establishment  has  been  derived 
from  the  parable  of  the  tares  and  the  wheat,  in  the  following 
words  :  "  An  attempt  originating  often  in  the  most  pious 
and  devoted  intentions,  a  zeal  for  God,  but  not  according 
to  enlarged  knowledge,  to  supersede  this  prerogative  of  the 
returning  Saviour,  and  to  separate  now  a  visible  company 
of  worshipers  which  shall  also  be  a  pure  company  ;  in  other 
words,  an  attempt  before  the  harvest  to  remove  the  tares, 
in  defiance  of  the  significant  lyrohihition,  lkst  ye  root 
UP  ALSO  THE  WHEAT  WITH  THEM,  is  the  root  of  all  sectari- 
anism." ^  The  substance  of  this  argument  is,  that  while 
sectarians,  i.  e.  dissenters,  endeavor  by  church  disciphne  to 
preserve  the  purity  of  their  churches  in  opposition  to  our 
Lord's  will,  the  Estabhshment  permitting  the  ungodly  to 
remain  quietly  within  its  communion,  acts  according  to  his 
admonition,  "  Let  both  grow  together  till  the  harvest." 
Hence  the  Establishment  is  more  scriptural  and  more 
'  Lectures  on  the  Church,  p.  26. 


90  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

agreeable  to  the  will  of  Christ  than  a  dissenting  congrega- 
tion. Let  me  here  introduce  the  parable  which  has  been 
thus  interpreted  :  "  Tlie  kingdom  of  heaven  is  likened  unto 
a  man  ivhich  solved  good  seed  in  his  field  :  hut  ivhile  men 
slejot  his  enertiy  came  and  sowed  tares  among  the  luheat^ 
and  tvent  his  way.  But  when  the  blade  was  sjorung  up, 
and  brought  forth  fruit,  then  appeared  the  tares  also. 
So  the  servants  of  the  householder  came,  and  said  unto 
him,  Sir,  didst  not  thou  soiv  good  seed  in  thy  field  ? 
from  ichence  then  hath  it  tares  1  He  said  unto  them, 
A?i  enemy  hath  done  this.  The  servants  said  unto  hitn, 
Wilt  thou  then  that  tve  go  and  gather  them  up  ?  But 
he  said,  Nay  ;  lest  while  ye  gather  up  the  tares,  ye  root 
up  also  the  ivheat  with  them.  Let  both  grow  together  until 
the  harvest.""  Of  this  parable  our  Lord  has  given  us  his 
own  explanation  :  "  He  that  soiceth  the  good  seed  is  the 
Son  of  man  ;  the  field  is  the  world  ;  the  good  seed  are 
the  children  of  the  kingdom  ;  but  the  tares  are  the  chil- 
dren of  the  ivicked  one ;  the  enemy  that  sowed  them  is 
the  devil ;  the  harvest  is  the  end  of  the  world,''  ^  ^'C. 

Our  Lord's  explanation  enables  us  to  derive  some  cer- 
tain instruction  from  this  parable  with  respect  to  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  churches,  as  well  as  with  respect  to  the  final 
separation  of  the  ungodly  from  among  believers.  The  field 
in  the  parable  is  the  world,  ver.  38  ;  the  good  seed  are 
the  children  of  the  kingdom,  ver.  38.  i.e.  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  ver.  41.  His  kingdom  is  composed  exclusively  of 
true  believers  ;  Matt.  v.  3  ;  vii.  21  ;  xi.  2  ;  xvi.  ]  9  ;  xix. 
14,  23  ;  xxi.  31  ;  Luke  xvii.  21  ;  Rom.  xiv.  17  ;  1  Cor. 
iv.  20  ;  Eph.  v.  5  ;  Col.  i.  13  ;  iv.  11  ;  and  the  word  is 
not  used  in  Scripture  to  express  either  the  world,  or  the 
aggregate  of  the  churches,  but  real  belierers.  The  good 
seed,  then,  are  the  subjects  of  Christ's  kingdom.  The  tares, 
or  zizania,  are  the  children  of  Satan,  ver.  38,  i.  e.  ungodly 
persons,  1  John  iii.  9,  10.  The  good  seed,  or  believers, 
are  sown  in  the  world  by  Christ,  ver.  37,  because  all 
Christians  are  born  of  the  Spirit,  created  in  Christ  Jesus 
to  good  works,  John  iii.  5  ;  Eph.  ii.  10.  The  tares,  or 
»  Matt.  xiii.  24,  37. 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  91 

zizania,  are  sown  among  Christians,  not  by  Christ  hut  hy 
Satan,  i.  e.  he  induces  hypocrites  to  make  false  profession 
of  rehgion,  instead  of  turning  heartily  to  God,  ver.  25,  39. 
He  sows  these  among  the  Christia7is,  by  securing  their 
admission  into  the  churches,  ver.  25.  He  does  this  while 
men  sleep.  When  Christians  become  negligent,  false  doc- 
trines preached,  discipline  relaxed,  and  profession  made 
easy,  then  hypocrites  form  the  churches,  ver.  25.  When 
Christians  awake  and  see  how  much  false  profession 
abounds,  then  they  wish  to  separate  the  spiritual  from 
all  the  rest,  and  would  cast  hypocrites  out  of  the  church, 
ver.  28.  But  our  Lord  condemns  the  attempt  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  lead  to  the  ejection  of  real  Christians 
as  well  as  hypocrites,  ver.  29.  This  has  since  often  hap- 
pened, in  fact  ;  Roman  churches,  on  pretense  of  rooting 
out  heretics,  have  murdered  Christians  without  number. 
They  were  excommunicated  by  priests,  and  then  outlawed 
and  murdered  by  magistrates.  The  good  seed  were  torn 
up,  the  zizania  were  left  to  spread  over  the  field.  The 
English  Establishment  has  followed  the  example  of  the 
Catholics.  By  its  canons  it  excommunicated  non-con- 
formists ;  and,  when  excommunicated,  they  were  liable  to 
be  imprisoned  by  force  of  the  writ  de  excomominicato  ca- 
piendo, till  they  submitted.  Ungodly  conformists  were 
left  to  triumph  ;  but  the  most  pious  persons  of  the  country 
were  expelled  and  harassed.  Our  Lord,  foreboding  there- 
fore such  an  attempt,  has  said,  "  Let  both  groiv  together 
until  the  harvests  Openly  wicked  persons  should  be 
separated  from  each  church,  Matt,  xviii.  17;  Bom.  xvi. 
17;  1  Cor.  V.  11,  13;  2  Cor.  vi.  14,  17;  2  Thess. 
iii.  6,  14.  These  are  not  the  zizania  resembling  the  wheat ; 
but  thorns  and  thistles  about  which  there  can  be  no  mis- 
take, and  which  Christ  has  expressly  commanded  to  be 
separated  from  communion  with  his  people  :  others  are  to 
be  left  to  God. 

According  to  this  parable  it  can  not  be  our  Lord's  will 
that  the  children  of  "  the  wicked  one"  should  systematically 
be  admitted  into  the  churches,  for  the  following  reasons  : 
1 .   He  represented  himself  as  sowing  in  his  field  nothing  but 


92  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

good  seed.  He,  then,  has  placed  in  the  churches  none  but 
the  children  of  the  kingdom,  true  believers  ;  and  it  can  be 
no  more  according  to  his  will  that  ungodly  persons  should 
be  admitted  into  his  churches,  than  it  could  be  the  will 
of  the  sower  that  weeds  should  be  sown  with  his  wheat. 

2.  As  it  was  the  enemy  of  the  proprietor  who  sowed  the 
darnel,  or  zizania,  so  it  has  been  the  devil,  the  enemy  of 
Christ,  who  has  introduced  ungodly  persons  into  the 
churches  ;  and  those  who  introduce  them  are  doing  the 
work   of    Satan,    and,    ]ike   him,    are    enemies   of    Christ. 

3.  As  the  zizania  Avere  sown  during  the  night  while  men 
slept,  so  ungodly  persons  are  introduced  into  the  churches 
in  consequence  of  the  lethargy  and  declension  of  ministers 
and  people,  through  which  false  doctrines  are  taught,  and 
discipline  is  relaxed.  4.  As  the  servants  could  not  have 
connived  at  the  sowing  of  the  zizania  because  they  were 
surprised  to  see  them  springing  up,  so  faithful  servants  of 
Christ  can  not  knowingly  introduce  ungodly  persons  into 
the  churches. 

Yet  the  parable  does  not  sanction  the  neglect  of  the 
exercise  of  discipline  upon  open  offenders  :  1 .  Because  the 
zizania,  which  closely  resembled  the  wheat,  represent  those 
who,  although  unconverted,  make  such  a  profession  of  reli- 
gion that  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  them  from  Christians ; 
2.  Because  the  reason  why  these  are  not  to  be  ejected  from 
the  churches  is,  lest  real  Christians  should  be  thus  ejected, 
ver.  29.  These  reasons  do  not  apply  to  the  excommunication 
of  open  offenders.  How  could  it  injure  the  church  at  Jeru- 
salem to  excommunicate  Ananias  and  Sapphira  ?  Or  how 
could  the  church  in  Samaria  suffer  by  ejecting  Simon  Ma- 
gus ?  Or  why  should  not  the  churches  of  Galatia  cut  off 
the  false  teachers  who  were  subverting  their  faith  ?  Or  the 
church  at  Pergamos  exclude  the  Nicolaitanes  ?  ^ 

But  if  the  parable  does  not  teach  that  ungodly  persons 
are  to  be  admitted  to  church  lellowship,  or  that  open  offend- 
ers are  to  remain  in  the  possession  of  that  privilege,  what 
does  it  teach  ?  1 .  It  shows  that  while  Christ  ordained 
that  his  churches  should  be  pure,  Satan,  by  means  of  Es- 
^  See  Acts  v.  4  ;  viii.  18-23 ;  Gal.  v.  12;  Rev.  xi.  15,  16. 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  93 

tablishments,  among  other  methods,  fills  the  churches  with 
ungodly  persons  ;  and  that  those  who  support  them  in  this 
work  are  herein  acting  as  the  servants  of  Satan  and  the 
enemies  of  Christ.  2.  It  manifests  that  when  unconverted 
persons,  who  make  a  decent  profession  of  religion,  are  intro- 
duced into  churches,  they  must  not  be  ejected,  lest  Chris- 
tians should  be  ejected  instead  of  the  unconverted.  Events 
have  fully  illustrated  the  danger  which  our  Lord  here 
gpecified.  Against  his  direction,  churches  in  conjunction 
with  States  have  undertaken  to  excommunicate  many  who 
were  supposed  to  be  zizania  ;  but  the  result  has  been,  both 
in  England  and  on  the  Continent,  that  the  weeds  have 
flourished,  and  the  wheat  has  been  rooted  up ;  the  children 
of  the  wicked  one  have  been  enthroned  in  power,  and  the 
disciples  of  Christ  have  been  sentenced  by  them  to  the  rack 
and  to  the  fire,  to  prison  and  to  exile. 

Distinctly,  then,  does  the  parable  condemn  the  Estab- 
lishment in  this  country  ;  First,  Because  it  admits  all  sorts 
of  persons  into  its  bosom  ;  secondly,  because  while  pretend- 
ing to  tear  up  the  weeds,  it  has  rooted  out  the  wheat  ; 
while  professing  to  expel  heresy  and  schism,  it  has  driven 
from  its  communion  many  of  the  most  eminent  servants  of 
Christ.  Alas  !  at  this  moment  the  Establishment  continues 
to  offend  against  our  Lord's  admonition  in  this  parable  ; 
and  while  it  retains  in  communion  with  it  persons  who  are 
openly  wicked,  it  excludes  from  its  communion  many  who 
are  devoted  and  enlightened  Christians. 

The  following  is  the  language  of  its  canons  now  in  force, 
and  by  which  all  its  clergy  are  bound  : — "Whosoever  shall 
impeach  any  part  of  the  Queen's  regal  supremacy,"  "  Who- 
soever shall  affirm  that  the  form  of  God's  worship,  con- 
tained in  the  Book  of  Common-prayer,  containeth  any 
thing  in  it  that  is  repugnant  to  the  Scriptures,"  "  Whoso- 
ever shall  affirm  that  any  of  the  nine-and-thirty  articles 
are  in  any  part  erroneous,"  "  Whosoever  shall  affirm  that 
such  ministers  as  refuse  to  subscribe  to  the  form  and  man- 
ner of  God's  worship  in  the  Church  of  England,  and  their 
adherents,  may  truly  take  to  them  the  name  of  another 
church,"  "  Let  him  be  excommunicated,  and  not  restored 


94  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

but  by  the  archbishop,  after  his  repentance,  and  pubUc 
revocation  of  such  his  wicked  errors."  ^  Our  Lord  com- 
mands, that  the  openly  wicked  should  be  excommunicated, 
and  the  Establishment  leaves  them  to  nestle  quietly  in  its 
bosom.  But  while  he  commands  that  all  who,  with  good 
morals,  make  a  profession  of  faith  in  him,  should  remain 
unmolested,  the  Establishment  excommunicates  many  real 
Christians,  who  are  pious  dissenters  ;  and  till  lately,  the 
State,  for  its  sake,  inflicted  on  them  many  temporal  penal- 
ties and  disabilities. 

Of  those  passages  in  the  Epistles  on  which  the  advocates 
of  Establishments  rely,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  a 
word  ;  to  cite  them  is  to  prove  their  irrelevance  :  they  are 
these  :  "  Let  every  soul  be  subject  unto  the  higher  powers. 
For  tJiere  is  no  power  but  of  God  :  the  poivers  that  be  are 
ordained  of  God.  Whosoever  therefore  resisteth  the 
power  resisteth  the  ordinance  of  God  ;  and  they  that  re- 
sist shall  receive  unto  themselves  damnation  ....  Where- 
fore ye  must  needs  be  subject,  not  only  for  tvrath,  but  also 
for  conscience  sake''  ^  "  Submit  yourselves  to  every  ordi- 
na7we  of  man  for  the  Lord's  sake  ;  whether  it  be  to  the 
king  as  supreme,  or  unto  governors  as  unto  them  tlwut  are 
sent  by  him  for  the  punishmejit  of  evil-doers,  and  for  the 
praise  of  them  that  do  well."  ^  Upon  these  two  passages 
one  author  remarks:  "The  right  interpretation  of  this  lan- 
guage in  its  practical  interpretation,  direct  and  implied, 
points  out  the  political  position,  that  is,  the  position  rela- 
tively with  the  civil  ruler,  which  it  is  the  will  of  God 
should  be  occupied  by  his  church  ;  and  therefore  involves 
the  question  of  what  is  commordy  called  '  the  union  between 
Church  and  State.' "^  These  passages,  on  the  contrary, 
have  not  the  remotest  connection  with  the  question  of  the 
union.  They  were  directions  given  to  the  Christian  sub- 
jects of  a  wicked  heathen  prince  to  obey  their  magistrates, 
because  government  is  a  divine  appointment,  by  which, 
generally,  the  honest,  industrious,  and  peaceable  are  pro- 
tected against  lawless  violence.      For  three  hundred  years 

1  Canons,  2,  4,  5,  10.  ^  Rom.  xiii.  1-5. 

3  1  Pet.  ii.  13,  14.  "  Lectures  on  the  Church,  p.  117. 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  95 

these  commands  were  obeyed  by  Christians,  when  the 
union  of  the  Churches  with  an  idolatrous  and  persecuting 
State  was  impossible,  and,  of  course,  they  may  be  obeyed 
equally  by  Christians  for  three  thousand  years  to  come, 
when  all  union  between  Churches  and  States  has  been 
abandoned  as  criminal  and  mischievous.  Why  should  not 
the  Dissenters  in  this  country,  and  the  Christians  in  the 
United  States,  who  condemn  the  union,  be  as  well  able  to  obey 
these  precepts  as  the  Christians  of  the  first  three  centuries, 
to  whom  the  union  was  never  offered?  In  truth,  the  pas- 
sages have  no  relation  whatever  to  a  union  ;  they  oblige 
us  to  obey  the  laws  when  those  laws,  require  of  us  nothing 
forbidden  by  God  ;  to  pay  the  taxes  imposed  upon  us,  to 
maintain  order,  to  promote  loyalty,  to  respect  those  in 
power,  and  nothing  more.  So  that  they  can  be  obeyed  as 
completely  by  the  member  of  a  free  church  as  by  the  mem- 
ber of  an  Establishment, 

We  have  not  done  with  these  two  passages  yet  :  for 
although  the  duties  which  they  prescribe  to  the  subject  can 
be  fulfilled  without  the  union,  they  impose,  according  to 
Mr.  Gladstone,  upon  the  rulers  the  duty  of  establishing  the 
union.  "  Finally,"  he  says,  "  to  determine  how  this  ques- 
tion is  resolved  for  us  as  Christians.  What  says  the  divine 
word  ?  That  the  ruler  '  heareth  the  sicord  for  the  punish- 
ment of  evil-doers,  mid  for  the  praise  of  them  that  do 
tvell.' ^  I  do  not  cite  this  passage,  as  in  former  times  it 
has  been  employed,  in  order  to  demonstrate  that  rulers 
have  duties  directly  religious,  but  I  contend  that  it  de- 
scribes them  as  appointed  to  maintain  a  moral  law,  accord- 
ing to  all  their  means  and  opportunities."  ^  First,  a  fragment 
of  St.  Paul's  statement  is  blended  with  a  fragment  from 
St.  Peter  ;  these  two  fragments  from  different  authors  are 
termed  one  "  passage."  This  "passage,"  so  manufactured, 
declares  that  rulers  punish  thieves  and  murderers,  while 
they  approve  of  the  honest,  sober,  and  virtuous.  And  from 
this  Mr.  Gladstone  infers  that  they  are  bound  to  uphold 
morality  by  all  means,  and,  consequently  by  an  Establish- 

1  Rom.  xiii.  4 ;   1  Pet.  iii.  14. 

2  The  State,  &c.,  vol.  i.  p.  152. 


96  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

merit.      The  cause  of  the  union  must  be  desperate,  if  able 
men  can  find  no  better  scriptural  evidence  to  support  it. 

I  have,  finally,  to  examine  a  prediction  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse vi^hich  has  been,  also,  supposed  to  support  the  union, 
and  which  is  contained  in  the  following  words  :  "  And 
there  appeared  a  great  tvonder  i7i  heaven ;  a  ivoman 
clothed  with  the  sun,  and  the  moon  under  her  feet,  and 
upon  her  head  a  crovm  oj  twelve  stars  ....  And  she 
brought  forth  a  man  child,  who  was  to  ride  all  nations 
ivith  a  rod  of  iron  ;  and  her  child  was  caught  up  unto 

God  and   to  his  throne A^id   there  ivas  war  in 

heaven;  Michael  and  his  a7igels  fought  against  the 
dragon,  and  the  dragon  fought  and  his  angels  ....  And 
the  great  dragon  zvas  cast  out,  that  old  serpent,  called  the 
Devil,  a.nd  Satan,  ivhich  dxceiveth  the  whole  world ;  he 
ivas  cast  out  into  the  earth,  and  his  angels  were  cast  out 
'with  him  ....  And  ivhen  the  dragon  saw  tliat  he  %vas 
cast  unto  the  earth,  he  'persecuted  the  icoman  ivhich 
brought  forth  the  man  child  ;  and  to  the  ivoman  were 
given  two  wings  of  a  great  eagle,  that  she  might  fly  into 
the  wilderness,  into  her  place  ....  And  the  serpent  cast 
out  of  his  mouth  water  as  a  flood  after  the  woman,  that 
he  might  cause  her  to  be  carried  aivay  of  the  flood.  And 
THE  EARTH  HELPED  THE  WOMAN,  aiul  the  earth  opcucd  her 
mouth,  and  swallowed  up  the  flood  which  the  dragon  cast 
ouyt  of  his  r}iouth.''  ^  To  this  the  excellent  and  able  author 
of  the  "Lectures  on  the  Establishment  of  National 
Churches,"  has  alluded  in  the  following  terms  :  "  Constan- 
tine  may  have  seen,  that  by  the  establishment  of  a  universal 
Christian  education  he  best  consulted,  both  for  the  economic 
well-being  of  his  people,  and  for  the  prosperous  administra- 
tion of  his  own  civil  and  political  affairs.  If  we  can  not 
speak  to  the  sincerity  of  his  principle  as  a  man,  we  may, 
at  least,  speak  to  the  soundness  of  his  policy  as  a  monarch ; 
and  although  this  vindication  leaves  the  blemish  of  ungod- 
liness and  of  political  hypocrisy  on  the  memory  of  Constan- 
tine,  it  lays  no  blemish  on  the  compliance  of  the  other 
party  in  this  great  transaction  ;  we  mean  of  the  church,  in 
^  Rev.  xii.  1,  5,  7,  9,  13-16. 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  97 

having  complied  with  the  overtures  which  he  made  to 
them.  TVe  read  of  the  earth  heljnng  the  ivoman,  but  we 
Tioivhere  read  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  woman  to  refuse 
this  help.''  ^  This  argument  is  transparently  fallacious. 
If  "  the  earth"  means  the  European  population  generally, 
and  "  the  woman"  represents  the  church  of  Christ,  it 
shows  that  the  church  may  receive  help  from  the  people  in 
any  country,  but  the  nature  of  the  help  is  left  undetermined. 
It  may  be  the  duty  of  the  nations  to  help  the  church  in 
one  way,  but  unlawful  to  seek  to  help  it  in  another.  It 
may  be  right  for  them  to  protect  it  from  violence  by  just 
laws,  free  institutions,  and  an  effective  police,  while  it  is 
wrong  to  fetter  it  by  a  legislative  union  ;  as  it  may  be 
right  to  help  a  friend  in  distress,  by  honest  means,  and 
wrong  to  employ  on  his  behalf  either  fraud  or  falsehood. 
Indeed,  the  idea  of  the  patronage  of  government  is  alto- 
gether foreign  to  the  imagery  which  is  here  employed. 
The  church  in  the  prophecy  is  flying  into  the  wilderness, 
how  can  it,  then,  be  a  national  Establishment  ?  And  since 
the  earth,  i.e.  the  people,  help  the  church,  what  can  be 
symbolized  by  the  flood  threatening  to  destroy  it,  but  some 
persecution  of  the  governments  ?  So  that  the  prophecy, 
so  understood,  predicts  not  that  the  churches  should  be 
established,  but  that  free  churches  when  persecuted  by 
government,  should  be  aided  by  the  people.  But,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Elliott,  the  woman  means  the  true  chosen 
church  of  the  144,000,  or  the  first-born,  whose  names  are 
written  in  heaven  :  ^  one  ever  faithful  in  heart,  and  in  all 
essential  doctrine.  The  child  born  was  the  Emperor  Con- 
stantine  ;  ^  the  dragon  is  Satan  ;  and  his  persecution  of  the 
woman  was  the  Arian  persecution  of  true  Christians  under 
the  Emperor  Constantius  and  his  successor  Valens  ;  or  the 
persecution  of  the  Puritans  by  the  Establishment."*  By 
the  woman's  flight  into  the  wilderness  is  meant,  "  the 
insulation  of  the  true  church  from  the  rest  of  the  world  ; 
invisibility  in  respect  of  its  public  worship,  and  destitution 

^  Lectures  on  Establishments,  pp.  110,  111. 
*  Horae  Apocalypticse,  by  Rev.  E.  Elliott,  2d  ed.  vol.  iii.  pp.  7,  8. 
3  lb.  pp.  19,  20.  "  TV.  ^-    -' 

E 


98  GENERAL  COxNSIDE RATIONS. 

of  all  means  of  spiritual  sustenance."  ^  "  Christ's  spiritual 
church,  the  blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people,  began, 
soon  after  the  establishment  of  Christianity  in  the  Roman 
empire,  and  through  the  half  century  following,  to  flee  to- 
ward the  wilderness  ;  in  other  words,  to  vanish  rapidly  in 
its  distinctive  features  from  the  public  view."^ 

By  the  flood  which  issued  from  the  dragon's  mouth  is 
intended  the  invasion  of  the  empire  by  the  Visigoths,  Goths, 
and  Vandals.^  And  the  help  of  the  woman  by  the  earth, 
is  the  assistance  then  given  to  the  true  church  by  the 
Pvoman  populution.  "  Superstitious  and  earthly  though 
the  Roman  population  had  become,  yet  thus  far  they  did 
service  to  Christ's  church  in  her  present  exigency.  In 
those  continuous  and  bloody  wars,  of  which  the  Western 
world  had  been  the  theater,  the  barbarous  invading  popu- 
lation was  so  thinned,  so  absorbed,  as  it  were,  into  the  land 
they  had  invaded,  that  it  needed  their  incorporation  as  one 
people  with  the  conquered  to  make  up  the  necessary  con- 
stituency of  the  kmgdoms.  And  in  this  incorporation  not 
only  was  much  of  their  original  nistitutions,  customs,  and 
languages,  absorbed,  but  their  religion  altogether.  The 
successive  tribes,  whether  of  Visigoths,  Ostrogoths,  Heruli, 
Huns,  Vandals,  or  Burgundians,  abandoned  their  paganism 
for  Christianity."^ 

According  to  Professor  Stuart,  the  woman  is  the  church  ; 
her  son  is  the  Messiah,  the  dragon  is  Satan  ;  the  persecu- 
tion, in  verse  13,  is  that  persecution  of  Christians  which 
followed  the  first  preaching  of  the  Gospel ;  the  flight  into 
the  wilderness,  verse  14,  is  the  retirement  of  the  early 
Christians  from  persecution  into  the  most  remote  places  ; 
the  flood  cast  after  in  her  flight,  verse  15,  is  the  increased 
persecution  of  Christians  by  the  Jews  ;  and  "  the  civil  and 
military  power  of  the  Romans  bearing  down  with  great 
force  upon  the  Jews  at  this  period,  and  obliging  them  to 
seek  their  own  personal  safety,  instead  of  pursuing  schemes 
of  vengeance  upon  Christians,  is  symbolized  here  by  the 
earth's  helping  the  woman."  ^ 

'  Horae  Apoc.  iii.  34.         ?  lb.  pp.  34,  35.         ^  jb.  pp.  47-49. 
*  lb.  p.  51.  ^  "  Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse,"  ad  loc. 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  99 

These  expositions  are  sufficient  to  manifest  how  futile 
the  attempt  must  be  to  deduce  from  this  prediction  any 
argument  in  favor  of  the  union  between  Church  and  State. 
If  the  former  exposition  be  adopted,  the  earth  helped  the 
woman,  or  the  people  helped  the  church,  when  the  Roman 
population,  which  had  previously,  by  its  Arianism,  driven 
the  church  into  the  wilderness,  now  changed  the  paganism 
of  the  Goths  and  Vandals  into  its  own  spurious  Christianity. 
If  the  latter  be  preferred,  the  earth  helped  the  woman,  or 
the  people  helped  the  church,  when  the  Roman  armies, 
overrunning  Judea  and  laying  siege  to  Jerusalem,  suspend- 
ed the  violence  of  its  Jewish  persecutors.  In  the  one  case 
the  established  Jewish  Church  was  persecuting  the  Chris- 
tians, in  the  other  the  established  Arian  Churches  were 
driving  them  into  obscurity  ;  in  neither  case  were  they 
basking  in  the  favor  of  any  kingly  government,  and,  there- 
fore, neither  exposition  affords  the  slightest  support  to  the 
union  between  the  British  Churches  ,and  the  State. 

If  the  foregoing  passages  of  Scripture  from  both  Testa- 
ments were  rightly  expounded  in  favor  of  the  union,  they 
impose  on  each  government  an  obligation  at  once  and  under 
any  circumstances  to  erect  an  Establishment  or  to  resign 
their  functions  to  other  hands.  But  even  the  most  devoted 
adherents  of  the  principle  shrink  from  this  conclusion.  Mr. 
Gladstone  avows  that  the  duty  of  a  State  in  this  matter  is 
determined  by  its  circumstances.  "  The  obligations  of  the 
State  to  religion  must,  of  course,  be  limited  by  the  subsist- 
ing constitution  of  a  country."^  If,  therefore,  the  constitu- 
tion forbids  an  Establishment,  as  in  the  United  States,  the 
duty  of  the  State  to  institute  it  ceases.  But,  since  the  law 
of  man  can  not  supersede  the  law  of  God,  if  the  existing 
constitution  of  a  country  can  supersede  the  duty  to  insti- 
tute an  Establishment,  there  can  be  no  divine  command  to 
institute  it;  and,  according  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  most  just 
conclusion,  all  the  texts  cited  to  prove  such  command  must 
be  falsely  applied.  If  there  be  a  divine  injunction  by 
which  States  are  required  to  establish  Christian  churches, 
this  duty  can  be  contingent  upon  no  circumstances  :  it  is 
1  The  State,  &c.  vol.  i.  p.  300. 


100  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

as  much  a  duty  to  establish  churches  in  Canada  as  in 
Great  Britain,  and  in  India  as  in  Canada.  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's good  sense  has  shown  him  that  this  is  impossible. 
*'  The  principle  upon  which  alone,"  he  says,  "  as  I  appre- 
hend, our  colonies,  speaking  generally,  can  be  governed,  is 
that  of  preserving  the  good- will  of  their  inhabitants.  The 
highest  function  of  the  State,  with  regard  to  them,  seems 
to  be  this  :  to  arbitrate  among  the  different  elements  of 
which  their  societies  are  composed,  and  gently  to  endeavor 
to  give  a  moral  predominance  to  the  nobler  over  the  meaner 
of  those  elements  ;"  ^  a  maxim  which  is  altogether  at  vari- 
ance with  the  idea  of  an  obligation  laid  on  rulers  by  the 
word  of  God  to  establish  religion. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  intimations  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, that  God  requires  the  separation  of  the  Christian 
churches  from  the  State  are  unequivocal. 

Let  us  first  examine  our  Lord's  statement  to  Pilate  of 
the  nature  of  his  kingdom,  contained  in  the  two  narratives 
of  Luke  and  John.  "  Tlte  ivhole  onultitude  of  them  arose 
and  led  hmi  to  Pilate.  And  they  began  to  accuse  liwi, 
saying,  We  found  this  felloiv  perverting  the  nation,  and 
forbidding  to  give  tribute  to  Ccesar,  saying  that  he  him- 
self is  Christ  a  king.  And  Pilate  asked  him,  saying, 
Art  thou  the  king  of  the  Jews  ?  And  he  answered  him 
and  said,  Thou  sayest  it.  Then  said  Pilate  to  the  chief 
priests  and  to  the  people,  I  find  no  faidt  in  this  man.''  ^ 
Our  Lord  was  charged  with  claiming  to  be  king  of  the 
Jews,  and  therefore,  as  king,  claiming  tribute  from  them, 
and  forbidding  that  the  Jews  should  pay  tribute  to  the 
Roman  emperor,  Tiberius.  Pilate,  therefore,  as  governor, 
asked  him  whether  the  accusation  was  true,  that  he  did 
claim  to  be  king  of  the  Jews.  Jesus  acknowledged  its 
truth,  and  yet  so  explained  the  character  of  his  claim,  that 
Pilate  saw  it  to  be  compatible  with  the  reign  of  the  em- 
peror, and  declared,  in  consequence,  that  he  found  him 
guilty  of  no  crime  against  the  Roman  law.  By  this  ac- 
count of  St.  Luke  it  is  plain,  first,  that  Jesus  did  claim  to 
be   king   of  the  Jews,   according  to  the  charge   brought 

^  The  State,  &c.  vol.  ii.  p.  313  »  Luke  xxiii.  1-4. 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  101 

against  him  by  his  enemies  ;  but,  secondly,  that  it  was 
such  a  dominion  as  was  compatible  with  the  dominion  of 
the  emperor.  Now  a  secular  dominion  would  not  have 
been  compatible  with  it.  The  dominion  of  the  emperor, 
obtained  by  conquest,  and  consolidated  by  imperial  laws, 
was  supported  by  taxation,  and  rested  ultimately  upon 
force.  If  Jesus  had  claimed  to  be  king  of  the  Jews  in  the 
same  sense  in  which  Tiberius  was  their  king,  then  his  laws 
must  be  substituted  for  those  of  Rome,  his  right  to  tax  the 
nation  for  the  expenditure  of  his  government  must  destroy 
the  emperor's  right,  and  that  right  must  be  enforced  by  his 
army.  In  this  case  Pilate  must  necessarily  have  pronounced 
him  to  be  the  enemy  of  Caesar  ;  and  when,  instead,  the  gov- 
ernor declared  that  he  found  in  him  no  fault  at  all,  it  is  clear 
that  in  the  opinion  of  the  governor  he  claimed  no  right  of 
enacting  a  new  code  of  civil  and  of  criminal  law  ;  he  did 
not  mean  to  maintain  his  government  by  taxation  ;  nor 
would  he  collect  a  revenue  by  force. 

The  narrative  of  St.  John  places  these  facts  in  a  still 
clearer  light :  "  Then  Pilate  entered  into  the  judgment- 
hall  again,  and  called  Jesus,  and  said  unto  him.  Art 
thou  the  ki7ig  of  the  Jews  ?  Jesus  answered  him,  Sayest 
thou  this  thing  of  thyself  or  did  others  tell  it  thee  of  me  ? 
Pilate  ansivered,  Am  I  a  Jew  ?  Thine  own  nation  and 
the  chief-priests  have  delivered  thee  unto  me :  ivhat  hast 
thou  done  ?  Jesus  ansivered,  My  kingdom,  is  not  of  this 
world :  if  my  kingdom  were  of  this  ivorld,  then  would 
my  servants  fight,  that  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the 
Jews  :  hut  noiv  is  tny  kingdom,  not  from  hence.  Pilate 
therefore  said  unto  him.  Art  thou  a  king  then'!  Jesus 
answered,  Thou  sayest  tlmt  I  am  a  king.  To  this  end 
was  I  horn,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that 
I  should  hear  w'itness  unto  the  truth.  Every  one  that 
is  of  the  truth  heareth  mij  voice.  Pilate  saith  unto  him. 
What  is  truth  ?  And  ivhen  he  had  said  this,  he  went 
out  again  unto  the  Jeivs,  and  saith  unto  them,  I  find  in 
him  no  fault  at  all.''  ^  Jesus  w^as  charged  with  claiming 
to  be  king.  Pilate,  therefore,  having  asked  whether  he 
'  John  xviii.  33-38. 


102  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

was  the  king  of  the  Jews,  Jesus,  before  answering  that 
question,  demanded  whether  he  had  asked  this  froim  any 
thing  which  he  had  himself  observed,  apparently  intending 
to  direct  the  attention  of  Pilate  and  of  others  to  the  fact, 
that  the  malice  of  the  priests,  and  not  any  public  miscon- 
duct of  his,  had  occasioned  his  arrest.  Pilate,  answering 
that  he  was  no  Jew,  but  that  the  priests  had  brought  him 
before  that  tribunal,  asked  him.  what  his  offense  was. 
Jesus  now  replied  to  the  original  question,  whether  he  was 
the  king  of  the  JeM's,  thus  :  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  tliis 
world :  if  my  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would 
my  servants  fight,  that  I  should  rvot  he  delivered  to  tlte 
Jews  ;  but  'now  is  my  kingdom  not  from  hence T  The 
object  of  his  answer  was,  to  clear  himself  of  the  charge  of 
rebellion.  Now,  this  might  be  done  in  either  of  three 
ways.  He  might  have  denied  his  claim  to  be  king,  and 
then  the  whole  accusation  would  fall ;  or,  asserting  his 
divine  supremacy,  he  might  have  declared  that  he  was  the 
spiritual  and  the  secular  king  of  the  Jews,  to  whom  the 
emperor  was  bound  to  submit,  in  which  case  Pilate  must 
either  have  become  his  disciple,  or  he  must  have  declared 
him  guilty  of  rebellion  ;  or,  thirdly,  he  might  have  main- 
tained that  he  was  king  of  the  Jews,  and  yet  admit  the 
imperial  authority  of  Tiberius,  by  explaining  that  his  king- 
dom was  spiritual,  not  secular  :  that  between  the  spiritual 
dominion  and  the  secular  there  was  so  complete  a  separa- 
tion that  the  one  could  not  interfere  with  the  other  ;  and 
that,  in  consequence,  he  could  be  no  rival  of  the  emperor. 
A.nd  this  was,  in  fact,  the  substance  of  his  answer  :  "  My 
kingdom  is  Twt  of  this  world :  if  my  kingdom  were  of  this 
world,  then  would  my  servants  fight,  that  I  should  not  be 
delivered  to  the  Jews :  but  noio  is  my  kingdom  '}iot  from 
hence y  It  is  clear  that  Pilate  was  permitted  by  our  Lord 
BO  to  understand  it  ;  because,  when  Pilate  further  asked, 
whether,  then,  he  claimed  to  be  a  king,  he  answered, 
"  Thou  say  est  (right)  that  I  am  a  king."  While  he  stood 
there,  charged  with  rebellion,  because  he  declared  himself 
to  be  king  of  the  Jews,  he  freely  admitted  that  he  did 
advance  that  claim,  and  yet  Pilate  pronounced  him  to  be 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.         103 

wholly  innocent,  which  he  could  not  have  done  except  on 
the  understanding  that  his  dominion  was  exclusively  spir- 
itual.     The  accusation  by  the  priests  was,  "  We  found 
this  felloiv  perverting  the  nation,  and  forbidding  to  give 
tribute  to  Ccesar,  saying  that  he  himself  is  Christ  a  king.''  ^ 
The  answer  of  Jesus  is  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  icorld; 
I  claim  no    tribute,   and  I  forbid  no   tribute  to  Caesar." 
Their  charge  was,  "  He  stirreth  up  the  people,  teaching 
throughout  all  JeivryT  ^     His  answer  was,  "  My  kingdom 
is  not  of  this  world.      I  raise  no  armies  to  maintain  my 
rights,"      Their  allegation  was,  ''  Whosoever  maketh  him- 
self a  king  speaketh  against  Ccesar."  ^     His  answer  was, 
"  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,  and  therefore  I  can  be 
no  enemy  to  the   reign  of  Csesar."      If  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  were  to  be  maintained  by  taxation  and  by  force, 
like  all  secular  powers,  then  his  throne  must  subvert  that 
of  Csesar  ;   and  therefore,  when  he  satisfied  Pilate  that  he 
was  no  enemy  of  Caesar,  by  asserting  that  his  kingdom  was 
not  of  this  world,  it  is  plain  that  it  should  not  be  main- 
tained by  taxation  and  by  force.      Further,  Pilate  under- 
stood our  Lord  to  mean  that  his  kingdom  would  never  be 
so  maintained  ;   for  if  our  Lord  had  said,  My  kingdom  is 
not  now  of  this  world,  not  now  maintained  by  taxation  and 
by  force,    Pilate  would  at  once  have  seen  that  it  might 
shortly  be  strong   enough   to  become  a  secular  kingdom, 
maintained  by  force.      And  as  it  would  then  subvert  the 
throne  of  Ccesar,  he  would  have  felt  bound  to  condemn  our 
Lord.      To  defend  himself  from  the  charge  of  rivalry  to 
the  Roman  emperor,  it  was  necessary  to  inform  Pilate  that 
his  dominion  would  be  so  entirely  spiritual  that  it  never 
could  interfere  with   the  rights  of  the  emperor.      And  of 
this  he  did  convince  Pflate  by  saying,  "  My  kingdom  is  twt 
of  this  world:'      This  was  therefore  the  legitimate  mean- 
ing of  his  words  ;   and  in  them  he  has  solemnly  taught 

us"  THAT  HIS  DOMINION  IS  ENTIRELY  AND  FOREVER  DISTINCT 
FROM  SECULAR  DOMINION  ,'  THAT  HE  RULES  OVER  MEN's 
HEARTS  AND  CONSCIENCES  ;  THAT  HE  WILL  EVER  ESTABLISH 
AND  MAINTAIN  HIS  RULE  WITHOUT  THE  AID  OF  THE  TAX- 
'  Luke  xxiii.  2.  "-  Verse  5.  '  John  xix.  12. 


104  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

GATHERER  AND  THE    SOLDIER  ;     THAT  HE  EMPLOYS  NO    COER- 
CION,  AND  WILL  NEVER  RESORT   TO  MILITARY  FORCE. 

But  the  union  in  England,  being  intended  to  advance 
his  dominion  by  maintaining  his  ministers,  seeks  that  end 
by  the  taxation  of  the  realm  for  the  support  of  his  minis- 
ters, and  then  employs  force  to  sustain  that  taxation. 
Christ  declared  to  Pilate  that  his  dominion  should  never 
be  maintained  by  taxation  and  by  force,  and  the  churches 
of  England  declare  that  it  shall  be  so  maintained.  He 
pronounced  his  kingdom  to  be  purely  spiritual,  they  declare 
that  it  shall  be  spiritual  and  secular  ;  and  their  decision  is 
in  flagrant  opposition  to  his  will. 

Another  important  passage  in  which  the  complete  sepa- 
ration of  tlie  spiritual  administration  of  the  churches  from 
the  secular  administration  of  the  government  is  enjoined  by 
our  Lord,  is  the  following  :  "  Then  tvent  the  Pharisees 
and  took  counsel  hoiv  they  might  entangle  him  in  his 
talk.  And  they  sent  out  unto  him  their  disciples  with 
the  Herodians,  saying.  Master,  ive  know  that  thou  art 
true,  and  teachest  the  ivay  of  God  in  truth,  neither  carest 
thou  for  any  man,  for  thou  regardest  not  the  persons  of- 
men,  tell  us,  therefore,  ivhat  thinkest  thou  ?  Is  it  laiv- 
ful  to  give  tribute  to  Ccesar,  or  7iot  ?  But  Jesus  per- 
ceived their  wickedness,  and  said,  Why  tempt  ye  me,  ye 
hypocrites  ?  Show  me  the  tribute-money.  And  they 
brought  unto  him  a  penny.  And  he  saith  unto  them. 
Whose  is  this  image  and  superscription  ?  They  say 
unto  him,  Casar's.  Then  saith  he  unto  them,  Render, 
therefore,  unto   CcEsar  the   things  which  are    Ccesar's, 

AND   UNTO    God  THE    THINGS  THAT  ARE   God's."  ^        Pompey  ' 

having  about  120  years  before  this  time  subjugated  Judea 
to  the  Romans,  it  became  a  Roman  province. ^  In  these 
circumstances,  the  Pharisees  maintained  that  it  was  un- 
lawful to  pay  tribute  to  the  emperor  because  God  had  de- 
clared that  they  must  not  choose  a  foreigner  to  be  their 
king  ;  they  were  the  special  people  of  God,  and  he  alone 
was  their  king.^     When  formerly  the  king  of  Syria  had 

^  Matt.  xxii.  15-21.  2  j^g   ^^^  ^iv.  4,  4. 

'  Deut.  xvii.  14,  15;  Exod.  xxiii.  32;  Deut.  vii.  2. 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  105 

brought  them  under  his  yoke,  their  fathers  had,  with  the 
blessing  of  God,  thrown  the  yoke  off.^  Frequently,  too, 
under  judges  raised  up  and  inspired  by  God,  they  had  vin- 
dicated their  liberties  against  the  tyranny  of  the  surround- 
ing nations  :  God  had  enabled  them  to  burst  from  their 
servitude  in  Egypt ;  and  Hezekiah,  with  his  Almighty  aid, 
had  successfully  rebelled  against  the  king  of  Assyria,^ 
Under  instructions  like  these  the  people  became  very  im- 
patient of  the  tribute  imposed  upon  them,  and  nearly  the 
whole  nation  was  ready  to  revolt.^  The  Herodians,  that 
is,  the  adherents  of  Herod,  maintained,  on  the  contrary, 
that  it  was  lawful  to  pay  tribute,  their  patron  being  sup- 
ported by  the  Romans.  These  two  parties  were  much  op- 
posed to  one  another  ;  but  a  common  hatred  having  now 
united  them  against  Jesus,  some  of  each  party  came  to- 
gether to  him  pretending  to  be  religious  persons  (Luke  xx. 
20),  who  had  the  highest  respect  for  his  wisdom  and  prob- 
ity, to  ask  him  to  determine  for  them  this  much-agitated 
question,  whether  they  ought  to  pay  or  not  (v.  22,  and 
Mark.  xii.  14,  15)  the  tribute  or  poll-tax,  which  was  pay- 
able by  every  person  whose  name  was  taken  in  the  census. 
If  he  declared  the  payment  to  be  lawful,  they  would  make 
him  odious  to  the  people,  who  detested  it ;  if  he  declared 
it  to  be  unlawful,  they  would  charge  him  with  sedition — 
as  they  afterward  did.^  And  this  was  their  chief  design.^ 
Jesus  asked  to  see  the  vojiLajia  rov  Krjvoov,  the  coin  in 
which  the  poll-tax  was  paid  ;  upon  which  they  brought  to 
him  the  Roman  penny,  which  bore  upon  it  the  head  of  the 
emperor  with  this  inscription,  Kalaap  Avy ovar.  'lovdaiaq 
Ea?i(x>Krjag — Caesar  Augustus,  such  a  year  after  the  taking 
of  Judea.^  The  current  coin  of  the  country  being  thus 
Roman,  proved  that  they  were  under  subjection  to  the 
Roman  emperor,  Tiberius.  And  having  obliged  them  to 
notice  this  fact,  our  Lord  replied  to  their  question,  "  Ren- 
der, therefore,  unto  Ccesar  the  things  which  are  Ccssar's  ; 

1   1  Mac.  ii.  24,  68  ;  iii.  59,  &c.  ^  2  Kings  xviii.  17. 

3  Jos.  Ant.  xviii.  pp.  1-6;  B.  ii.  17,  8 ;  ii.  16,  4 ;  B.  v.  9,  3 ; 
B.  iii.  8,  4.  ■*  Luke  xxiii.  2. 

^  Luke  XX.  20.  ^  Hammondj  ad  loc. 

E 


106  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

AND  UNTO  God  the  things  which  are  God's."  Civil 
government,  w^hich  was  necessary  to  prevent  universal 
anarchy  and  crime,  must  be  upheld  by  taxation.  It  was 
equitable  that  in  return  for  its  advantages  they  should  pay 
for  its  support.  To  be  loyal  subjects  to  a  prince  who  had 
conquered  them  was  a  very  different  thing  from  choosing  a 
foreigner  for  their  king,  God  had  commanded  their  fathers 
to  serve  their  conqueror,  the  king  of  Babylon,^  and  they 
were  ordered  to  seek  the  peace  of  his  kingdom.^  To  pay 
tribute  and  to  render  obedience  in  all  secular  matters  to 
Csesar  was  only  to  render  to  the  sovereign  his  due,  and  in- 
stead of  interfering  with  their  duty  to  God,  was  part  of 
that  duty.  Nor  were  they  responsible  for  the  use  which 
Csesar  might  make  of  any  part  of  that  tribute.  Order 
must  be  maintained  by  law  ;  law  must  be  administered  by 
civil  officers,  and  supported,  if  necessary,  by  the  military 
force,  for  which  a  revenue  was  requisite.  And  if  the  em- 
peror were  to  employ  any  surplus  in  the  erection  of  heathen 
temples,  in  contributing  to  licentious  theaters,  or  in  enrich- 
ing worthless  favorites,  they  were  not  implicated  in  this 
irreligious  or  profligate  expenditure.  But  the  claims  of  the 
emperor  must  not  interfere  with  superior  claims.  If  they 
were  to  render  to  Caesar  the  things  of  Csesar,  they  must 
also  render  to  God  the  things  of  God.  The  things  of 
CsBsar  were  tribute  and  obedience  to  the  law  ;  the  things 
of  God  were  faith,  worship,  and  obedience.  When  Caesar 
claimed  the  payment  of  the  tribute,  he  claimed  what  was 
his  due  ;  but  should  he  claim  dominion  over  conscience, 
affect  to  control  their  creed,  or  interfere  to  regulate  their 
worship,  then  he  usurped  the  rights  of  God,  and  must  be 
resisted.  When  Antiochus  Epiphanes  ordered  their  fathers 
to  discontinue  their  sacrifices,  to  profane  their  Sabbaths,  to 
deliver  up  their  Bibles,  and  to  set  up  idols  in  their  country, 
their  fathers  justly  refused  obedience.^  In  the  same  spirit 
the  three  Hebrew  youths,  though  faithful  subjects  to  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, refused  to  bow  down  to  his  golden  image  ;  and 
Daniel,  though  blameless  in  his  office  as  the  prime-minister 
of  Darius,  openly  defied  the  decree  which  forbade  the  sub- 
^  Jer.  xxvii.  12-17.         ^  Jer.  xxix.  7.         ^  j  j^ac.  i.  41,  64. 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  107 

jects  of  that  prince  for  thirty  days  to  pray  to  God.  In 
paying  tribute  they  would  render  to  Ca3sar  the  things  of 
Ceesar,  and  in  an  unreserved  obedience  to  the  laws  of  God, 
both  moral  and  ceremonial,  they  would  render  to  God  the 
things  of  God. 

Our  Lord  thus  estabhshed  a  plain  rule  of  action.  In 
all  secular  things  which  do  not  interfere  with  the  law  of 
God  the  sovereign  is  to  be  obeyed  ;  but  if  the  sovereign 
assumes  the  rights  which  belong  exclusively  to  God,  he 
must  be  therein  disobeyed  and  resisted. 

By  this  answer  our  Lord  baffled  his  enemies.  They  could 
not  accuse  him  to  the  people  because  he  maintained  that 
the  whole  law  of  God  must  be  obeyed  against  all  contrary 
commands ;  and  they  could  not  denounce  him  to  the  Romans, 
because  he  taught  that  all  the  rights  of  Caesar  were  to  be 
conscientiously  upheld.  By  this  answer  he  condemned  the 
Pharisees,  who  refused  to  Csesar  the  things  of  Csesar  ;  and 
the  Herodians,  who  neglected  to  pay  to  God  the  things  of 
God.  When  the  Pharisees  clainaed  entire  obedience  to 
the  law  of  God,  he  assented  to  their  doctrine,  but  con- 
demned them  for  being  seditious  ;  when  the  Herodians 
claimed  submission  to  the  sovereign,  he  likewise  assented 
to  that  opinion,  but  condemned  them  for  allowing  violation 
of  the  conmiands  of  God.  All  that  was  right  in  each 
opinion  he  established  ;  all  that  was  wrong  he  repudiated. 
In  these  few  words  he  escaped  their  snare,  condemned 
their  errors,  and  established  a  maxim  of  universal  applica- 
tion. 

Let  us  consider  what  use  the  early  churches  would  make 
of  this  direction.  If  the  Jews  were  to  render  to  Cajsar  the 
things  of  Csesar,  so  were  the  Christians  ;  if  the  former 
were  to  render  to  God  the  things  of  God,  so  were  the 
latter.  They  would,  therefore,  study  to  be  quiet  and 
orderly  subjects,  but,  just  as  the  Jews,  they  would  allow 
no  emperor  to  exercise  any  control  over  their  faith,  their 
worship,  or  their  discipline.  Had  Nero  or  Caligula  at- 
tempted to  nominate  their  pastors,  direct  their  places  and 
hours  of  worship,  or  regulate  the  admission  of  candidates  to 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  thev  would  have  repelled 


108  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

a  dictation  which  would  have  "been  incompatible  with  the 
rights  of  the  Almighty,  and  would  have  declared  that  they 
must  render  to  God  the  things  of  God.  Since  they  were 
bound  to  obey  God  in  all  things,  there  were  the  strongest 
reasons  why  the  emperor  should  exercise  no  control  over 
them  in  matters  of  religion.  Being  a  heathen,  he  could 
not  know  the  will  of  God  ;  and  as  his  commands  in  spir- 
itual matters  would  constantly  oppose  the  commands  of 
God,  his  exercise  of  any  spiritual  superintendence  over  the 
churches  would  bring  them  either  into  perpetual  collision 
with  his  authority,  or  into  corrupt  acquiescence  in  his 
caprice.  The  only  way  to  avoid  both  these  evils  was  to 
establish  a  complete  separation  between  the  temporal  and 
the  spiritual ;  and,  while  respecting  the  supreme  authority 
of  Caesar  in  all  secular  matters,  to  allow  him  no  authority 
whatever  in  spiritual  matters. 

These  reasons  apply  in  all  their  force  to  an  irreligious 
State  bearing  the  Christian  name.  No  State,  however 
pious,  has  received  any  authority  from  God  to  superintend 
his  churches  ;  and  the  churches  can  not  therefore  com- 
municate that  authority  in  any  case  without  rendering  to 
Caesar  the  things  of  God  :  but  an  irreligious  State  must  be 
still  more  unfit  to  exercise  it.  If,  also,  an  irreligious  State 
has  any  control  over  the  churches  in  spiritual  things,  it  is 
so  likely  to  enact  what  is  contrary  to  the  law  of  Christ, 
that  the  churches  would  be  in  danger  either  of  frequent 
collision  with  it,  or  of  criminal  acquiescence  in  laws  con- 
trary to  the  law  of  Christ ;  on  which  account  the  churches 
are  bound  to  avoid  the  union  with  such  a  State.  But  the 
State  in  England  is  irreligious  ;  and  so  long  as  the  House 
of  Commons  represents,  as  it  ought  to  do,  the  community, 
and  the  community  is  not  generally  religious,  it  must  con- 
tinue to  be  so.  Consequently  the  union  between  the 
English  Churches  and  State  is  as  much  prohibited  by  this 
passage  as  the  union  was  prohibited  by  it  between  the 
churches  within  the  Roman  empire  and  the  Emperor 
Nero.  The  House  of  Commons,  the  most  powerful  mem- 
ber of  the  State,  being  composed  of  men  of  every  character 
Mid  opinion  in  religious  matters,  is  unfitted  to  control  the 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  109 

creed,  worship,  or  discipline  of  the  churches  ;  and  by  nothing 
but  a  criminal  indolence  on  the  part  of  the  churches,  and 
by  a  cautious  abstinence  from  legislation  on  the  part  of  the 
State,  the  State  declaring  to  the  churches  you  shall  reform 
nothing,  and  the  churches  replying  to  the  State,  "  We 
consent  to  do  nothing  if  you  will  do  nothing  likewise," 
that  those  collisions  are  avoided,  in  which  the  churches 
would  be  forced  to  recognize  that,  under  the  union,  they 
render  to  Csesar  more  than  the  things  of  Caesar,  and  do  not 
render  to  God  the  things  of  God. 

Whether  if  the  State  were  wholly  composed  of  reli- 
gious men,  it  could  usefully  superintend  the  churches  is  a 
question  merely  speculative,  because,  upon  the  representa- 
tive system,  which  is  the  best,  and  secures  the  greatest 
virtue  in  governments,  no  such  State  can  exist  until  the 
constituency,  that  is,  the  mass  of  the  people,  become 
religious  ;  and  then  the  alleged  reasons  for  the  union  would 
vanish.  Moreover,  should  it  be  conceded  that  such  a  pious 
State  might  exercise  control  over  *the  churches,  this  could 
not  establish  the  innocence  of  a  permanent  union  ;  because 
evangelical  religion  can  not  be  transmitted  from  one  party 
in  power  to  another,  from  one  House  of  Commons  to  an- 
other ;  so  that  if  the  union  should  be  formed  under  a  pious 
State,  it  would  speedily  connect  the  churches  with  an  un- 
godly State.  If  a  union  of  the  church  in  Israel  with 
Solomon  had  been  tolerable,  it  would  have  been  intolerable 
when  Solomon's  place  was  occupied  by  Rehoboam.  If 
Hezekiah  could  usefully  have  superintended  that  church, 
Manasseh  could  not  have  done  so.  And  as  similar  changes 
in  the  character  of  successive  rulers  must  continually  occur, 
the  only  safe  arrangement  must  be  the  entire  separation  of 
the  spiritual  administration  from  the  secular. 

As  this  passage  proves  that  it  would  have  been  unwise 
and  culpable  in  the  early  churches  to  grant  to  Nero  or 
Caligula  a  control  over  their  doctrine,  worship,  and  disci- 
pline, because  these  princes  were  irreligious,  it  equally 
proves  it  to  be  unwise  to  allow  any  such  control  over  the 
churches  within  this  country  to  the  House  of  Commons, 
because  it  likewise  is  irreligious.      Since  Caesar  was  pro- 


110  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIOiNS. 

hibited  by  this  passage  from  exercising  control  over  the 
churches,  the  House  of  Commons  must  be  equally  prohib- 
ited. If  CsBsar  might  not  nominate  the  bishops  of  Philippi, 
nor  exercise  a  veto  upon  any  article  of  the  creed  of  the 
church  at  Corinth,  nor  determine  who  should  be  admitted 
to  the  Lord's  table  at  Ephesus,  because  obedience  to  him 
in  these  things  would  hinder  these  churches  from  rendering 
to  God  the  things  which  are  God's,  so  neither  ought  the 
legislature  or  government  in  this  kingdom  to  nominate 
prelates  or  pastors,  forbid  a  revision  of  the  creed  of  the 
churches,  determine  to  whom  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper  shall  be  given,  lest  the  churches  should  obey  the 
State  in  violation  of  some  divine  law,  and  should  thus  fail 
to  render  unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's.  The 
reason  why  Nero  might  not  exercise  any  control  over  the 
churches  was,  that  they  might  be  at  liberty  to  render  to 
God  the  things  which  are  God's  ;  and  the  same  reason 
binds  the  churches  now  to  allow  no  spiritual  control  over 
them  to  the  legislature.  Since  the  law  of  God  requires 
that  the  churches  have  godly  pastors,  that  no  one  be  bap- 
tized without  a  credible  profession  of  repentance  and  faith, 
that  the  Gospel  be  preached  to  every  creature,  that  all 
Christians  should  act  as  brethren,  and  that  Christ  should 
be  supreme  in  his  own  house  —  if  the  State  ordain  that 
parishes  should  receive  ungodly  pastors,  prohibit  Christ's 
ministers  from  preaching  the  Gospel  in  parishes  wherein 
the  ministers  are  ungodly,  compel  by  legal  penalties  pa- 
rochial ministers  to  admit  improper  persons  to  the  sacra- 
ments, and  demand  for  the  Crown  a  supremacy  which  is 
inconsistent  with  the  supremacy  of  Christ,  then  the  churches 
must  render  to  God  the  things  which  are  God's,  and  refuse 
obedience  to  the  State.  To  avoid  which  collision,  the 
churches  should  be  separate  from  the  State  ;  and,  while 
paying  to  it  all  secular  obedience,  should  be  free  to  accom- 
plish, without  its  control,  the  whole  law  of  Christ. 

In  the   third    chapter    of  the   Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
Christians  are  said  to  be  Christ's  house,  or  household,  over 
which  he  rules  ;  ^  over  which,  therefore,  no  stranger  can  be 
^  Heb.  iii.  5,  6. 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  Ill 

admitted  to  rule  without  his  authority  ;  but  by  the  union 
the  State  is  admitted  to  that  rule  without  his  authority, 
and  the  churches  in  permitting  it  overthrow  the  rights  of 
Christ  over  his  own  house. 

In  many  passages  Christ  is  spoken  of  as  the  king  of  his 
church,^  and  Christians  are  his  subjects,  over  whom  no 
others  have  any  more  right  to  exercise  spiritual  dominion 
than  a  foreign  prince  has  right  to  give  laws  to  us  in  En- 
gland. And  when  Parliament  gives  laws  to  the  Christian 
churches  in  England,  it  as  much  disregards  the  sovereignty 
of  Christ  as  a  French  or  German  king,  who  should  assume 
to  legislate  for  Kent  or  Sussex,  would  disregard  the  sover- 
eignty of  her  Majesty,  the  queen  of  this  empire.  But  by 
the  union  Parliament  does  legislate  for  the  churches,  and 
thus  invades  the  sovereign  rights  of  Christ. 

The  church  of  Christ  is  represented  in  Scripture  as  his 
bride  ;  ^  over  which  he  therefore  has  exclusive  right  to 
rule  :  and  when  any  church  therefore  allows  itself  to  be 
governed  by  any  power  which  is  separate  from  Christ,  it  is 
an  adulterous  infidelity  to  him,  like  that  of  which  a  wife 
would  be  guilty  toward  her  husband  who  should  place 
herself  under  the  control  of  another  man.  But  by  the 
union  the  state,  without  Christ's  authority,  does  thus  rule 
over  the  churches  of  the  Establishment ;  and  those  churches, 
in  consenting  to  it,  are  guilty  of  adulterous  infidelity  to 
Christ,  as  in  other  ways  the  Church  of  Rome  has  been.^ 

Christians  being  the  children  of  God,  the  body  of  Christ, 
the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost, ^  are  chosen  out  of  the  world 
by  Christ,*  are  not  of  the  world, ^  and  are  called  to  be 
distinct  from  the  world.'''  The  friendship  of  the  world 
being  enmity  to  God,^  Christians  must  not  love  the  world  ;  ^ 
they  must  not  be  conformed  to  it ;  ^'^  but  must  separate  from 

^  Matt.  iii.  2;  iv.  17;  ix.  35;  xiii.  38;  xvi.  28;  Luke  xix.  12; 
Joki  xviii    36,  37;   1  Cor.  xv.  24,  25;   Col.  i.  13;  Heb.  i.  8,  &c. 

2  John  iii.  29;  Rev.  xxi.  9;  xxii.  17  ;  Eph.  v.  25-27. 

^  Rev.  xvii.  1-5. 

*  John  i.  12,  13;  Gal.  iii.  26;  iv.  5 ;  1  Cor.  xii.  12,  27;  Eph. 
iv.  12;  V.  30;  1  Cor.  iii.  16;  vi.  19;  Eph.  ii.  21. 

^  John  XV.  19.  6  John  xvii.  14.  "^  1  John  iii.  1  ;  v.  19. 

«  James  iv.  4.  ^  1  John  ii.  15.  ^°  Rom.  xii.  2. 


112  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

it  in  all  but  the  necessary  business  of  life.  For  thus  has 
Christ  ordered  by  his  apostle,  "  Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked 
with  unbeliever?,,  for  ivhat  fellowship  hath  righteousness 
ivith  unrighteousness  ?  and  what  communion  hath  light 
with  darkness  ?  Wherefore  come  out  from  among  them, 
and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,''  ^  &c.  And  these 
commands  were  so  far  obeyed  by  the  first  Christians,  that 
the  churches  were  composed  of  "  saints  and  faithful  breth- 
ren,"^ who  were  epistles  of  Christ,^  and  shone  as  lights 
in  the  world."*  If,  therefore,  any  churches,  instead  of 
being  composed  of  "  saints  and  faithful  brethren"  separate 
from  the  world,  admit  all  the  world  freely  into  fellowship 
with  them,  they  have  forsaken  their  calling,  and  have  dis- 
regarded Christ's  orders.  But  by  the  union  there  is  in  this 
country  a  complete  fusion  of  the  church  and  the  world. 
Believers  and  unbelievers  are  not  only  associated  in  the 
business  of  life,  but  in  all  the  functions  of  church  members, 
without  the  smallest  discrimination. 

Our  Lord  has  distinctly  declared  in  his  word  who  ought 
to  become  pastors  of  churches.  They  are  directly  appointed 
by  him,^  and  none  are  so  appointed  but  those  who  are 
blameless,  lovers  of  good  men,  sober,  just,  holy,  temperate, 
holding  fast  the  faithful  word.^  Unconverted  ministers, 
unsound  in  doctrine,  and  unholy  in  life,  are,  on  the  contrary, 
termed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  "  wolves,"  and  "■  ministers  of 
Satan."  "^  Christians  are  commanded  to  guard  against 
them.^  They  must  not  listen  to  them,^  nor  in  any  way 
assist  them  in  their  false  teaching.  ^°  And  as  the  churches 
are  bound  not  to  receive  such  as  pastors,  but  to  see  that 
their  ministers  are  faithful  men,  in  order  to  fulfill  these 
duties,  the  first  churches  chose  their  own  ministers.  ^^ 
When,  therefore,  any  churches  allow  unconverted  and  un- 
sound men  to  become  their  pastors,  they  are  disregarding 

1  2  Cor.  vi.  14-18. 

3  1  Cor.  i.  2 ;  Eph.  i.  1  ;  Phil.  i.  1  ;    1  Thess.  i.  6. 

3  2  Cor.  iii.  3.  "^  Phil.  ii.  15. 

6  Acts  XX.  28  ;  Eph.  iv.  1 1,  12.  «  Tit.  i.  5-9 ;  1  Tim.  iii.  1-7. 

'  Acts  XX.  29;   2  Cor.  xi.  15.  »  -^qxx.  vii.  15,  16. 

»  Johnx.  4,  5.  10  2  John  10,  11. 

»  Actsi.  15.  23,  26  J  vi.  1-6. 


CONDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  113 

all  these  divine  directions.  But,  by  the  union,  the  churches 
do  receive  such  pastors — and  must ;  for  the  State  will  ever 
maintain  the  rights  of  patrons  :  and  so  long  as  ungodly- 
men  can  secure  ordination,  which  they  do,  and  ever  will, 
in  an  Establishment,  so  long  ungodly  patrons  can  force  un- 
godly pastors  upon  all  the  churches  who  criminally  remain 
under  the  bondage  of  the  union. 

By  the  law  of  Christ,  Christians  ought  to  maintain  their 
pastors.  "  Let  him  that  is  taught  in  the  ivord  comniU7ii- 
cate  to  him  that  teacheth  i7i  all  good  things}  .  .  .  Let  the 
elders  that  rule  well  be  counted  tvorthy  of  double  honor, 
especially  they  who  labor  in  the  word  and  doctrine.  For 
the  scripture  saith,  Thoit  slialt  'not  muzzle  the  ox  that 
treadeth  out  the  corn :  and,  The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his 
reward}  .  .  .  Even  so  Jiath  the  Lord  ordained  tliat  they 
ivho  preach  the  Gospel,  shoidd  live  of  the  Gospel''  ^ 
When,  therefore,  churches  compel  ministers  to  seek  a  salaiy 
from  the  world,  and  when  they  devolve  upon  others  the 
burden  of  maintaining  their  pastors,  they  are  neglecting 
their  duty.  But  under  the  union  the  churches  leave 
strangers  to  support  their  ministers,  paying  little  or  nothing 
themselves  spontaneously  toward  their  maintenance. 

As  under  the  Mosaic  law  all  the  payments  for  the  sup- 
port of  religion  were  spontaneous,  so  at  present  God  requires 
the  same.  The  divine  rule  is,  •'  Every  man,  according 
as  he  purposeth  in  his  heart,  so  let  him  give,  not  grudg- 
ingly, or  of  necessity,  for  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver."* 
And  all  persecution  is  at  variance  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel.  But  the  union  is  entirely  built  on  coercion.  If 
the  rent-charges,  which  are  substituted  for  tithes,  or  the 
church-rates,  are  refused,  they  are  seized  by  distraint :  ene- 
mies or  friends  being  alike  compelled  to  pay  them,  however 
reluctant  they  may  be. 

It  is  the  declared  will  of  Christ  that  offending  mem- 
bers should  be  put  out  of  the  churches,  by  the  churches 
in  conjunction  with  the  ministers.  Thus,  if  any  professed 
Christian  injures  another,  and  will  not  listen  to  private 

1  Gal.  vi.  6.  "^  1  Tim.  v.  17,  18. 

3  1  Cor.  ix.  14.  "•  2  Cor.  ix.  7. 


114  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

femonstrances,  our  Lord  has  given  this  direction  respecting 
his  case  ;  '^  If  he  sliall  neglect  to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto 
the  church :  but  if  he  neglect  to  hear  the  church,  let  him 
be  to  thee  as  a  heathen  man  and  a  publican.''  ^  To 
this  the  apostles  have  added  similar  injunctions  to  the 
churches  :  "  /  beseech  you,  brethren,  mark  them  ivhich 
cause  divisions  and  offenses  contrary  to  the  doctrine  which 
ye  have  learned,  and  avoid  them}  .  .  .  .  I  liave  written 
unto  you  not  to  keep  company,  if  any  man  that  is  called 
a  brother  be  a  fornicator,  or  covetous,  or  an  idolater,  or  a 
railer,  or  a  drunkard,  or  an  extortioner ;  ivith  such  a  one 
no  'not  to  eat.  Therefore  put  aivay  from  aonong  your- 
selves that  wicked  person."^  ....  Noiv,  we  command  you, 
brethren,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye 
withdraw  yourselves  from  every  brother  that  walketh  dis- 
orderly, and  not  after  the  tradition  ivhich  he  received  of 
us.  And  if  any  man  obey  not  our  wcn-d  by  this  epistle, 
note  that  man,  and  Jiave  no  company  with  him,  that  he 
may  be  ashamed.'"'^  What  congregation  within  the  Es- 
tablishment obeys  these  commands  ?  The  State  will  not 
allow  them. 

According  to  the  declarations  of  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
all  Christians  are  brethren,  bound  to  love  one  another,  and 
to  treat  one  another  with  kindness.^  But  the  union  exalts 
one  class  of  Christians  and  depresses  all  the  rest ;  excludes 
faithful  ministers  of  Christ  from  the  pulpits  of  the  Estab- 
lishment, if  they  are  nonconformists  ;  shuts  out  pious  men, 
if  they  are  not  Episcopalians,  from  the  universities ;  forces 
many,  against  their  conscience,  to  support  a  system  which 
they  condemn  ;  and  thus  creates  a  permanent  schism 
among  the  churches  of  Christ. 

Lastly,  Christ  gave  to  his  followers,  before  his  departure, 
these  commands :  ''  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature.'''^     When  the  apostles  were 


'  Matt,  xviii.  17. 

^  Rom.  xvi.  17. 

3  1  Cor.  V.  11. 

^  2  Thess.  iii.  6,  14. 

5  Matt,  xxiii.  8  ;   Gal.  i.  2 ; 

Col.  i.  2 ;   John  xiii.  34,  35 ;   Rom. 

xiv.  1  ;   XV.  7;    1  John  iii.  14  j 

Matt.  XXV.  34-40. 

6  Mark  xvi.  15. 

COiNDEMNED  BY  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  115 

commanded  by  the  sanhedrim  not  to  preach,  they  repHed, 
*'  We  ought  to  obey  God  rather  tJuin  me?t,"  and  preached 
on.^  When  a  severe  persecution  at  Jerusalem  scattered 
the  church  of  that  place,  "  Theij  that  ivere  scattered  abroad 
went  every  ivhere  preaching  the  ivord^  ^  Those  churches, 
therefore,  sin,  who  assent  to  any  law  by  which  they  are 
hindered  from  obeying  these  commands  of  Christ.  But  the 
union  does  hinder  them.  For  while  there  are  hundreds, 
and,  I  fear,  thousands,  of  parishes  in  this  country  where 
the  Gospel  is  never  preached,  no  minister  of  the  Establish- 
ment may  preach  the  Gospel  in  one  of  them  without  the 
consent  of  the  incumbent.  The  apostles  would  not  have 
agreed  so  to  abandon  the  toviois  and  villages  of  Judea. 

It  may  here  occur  to  some  readers  that  as  few  of  these 
passages  directly  and  explicitly  forbid  the  union  between 
Churches  and  States,  the  duty  of  separation,  being  a  matter 
of  inference  merely,  can  neither  be  plain  or  so  important 
as  its  advocates  allege.  But  will  this  opinion  endure 
examination  ?  Are  there  not  many  pious  adherents  of 
Establishments  who  hold  the  divine  institution  of  episco- 
pacy, who  believe  that  they  are  bound  to  consecrate  the 
Lord's  day,  that  Christians  ought  to  assemble  periodically 
for  public  worship,  that  infants  ought  to  be  baptized,  that 
the  Lord's  Supper  is  of  perpetual  obligation,  that  slavery 
and  war  are  anti-Christian,  &c.,  &c.  ?  Not  one  of  these 
doctrines  has  so  much  scriptural  evidence  in  its  support  as 
this  of  the  separation  of  the  Church  from  the  State.  In 
the  Scriptures  there  are  principles  of  action  established 
which  apply  to  innumerable  cases  where  they  occur  ;  and 
the  principles  which  ought  to  compel  the  churches  to  sepa- 
rate from  the  State  are  abundantly  stated  in  the  New 
Testament.  But  generally  those  evils  alone  were  directly 
prohibited  which  were  then  in  existence  ;  and  the  danger 
of  the  union  of  the  Church  and  State  was  then  at  the  dis- 
tance of  two  centuries  and  a  half.  Doubtless  God  has 
seen  it  to  be  better  for  Christians  that  there  should  be  no 
more  direct  command  on  this  and  on  some  other  important 
points.      One  reason  we  can  easily   perceive.      Very  plain 

^  Acts  V.  29 ;  iv.  19,  20}  v.  42.  ^  Acts  viii.  1-4. 


116  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

commands  would  have  superseded  the  necessity  of  inquirmg 
into  principles,  whereas  now  the  separation,  whenever  it 
shall  occur,  will  be  the  result  of  a  more  complete  under- 
standing of  the  nature  of  a  Christian  church,  and  of  a  more 
childlike  disposition  to  obey  every  intimation  of  the  will  of 
God. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  UNION  BETWEEN  THE  CHURCH 
AND  STATE  IN  ENGLAND  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD 
OF  GOD. 

From  those  general  considerations,  which  manifest  that 
the  union  of  Churches  with  States  is  contrary  to  the  de- 
sign of  our  Lord,  and  unsuitable  from  the  character  of  a 
Christian  church,  let  us  proceed  to  consider  how  far  some 
of  the  particular  principles  of  the  union  in  England  are 
consistent  with  the  declarations  of  the  will  of  God  which 
we  find  in  the  New  Testament.*  The  principles  which 
will  come  under  our  review  are  the  maintenance  of  Chris- 
tian pastors  by  the  State,  the  supremacy  of  the  State,  pat- 
ronage, the  selection  of  one  denomination,  and  the  support 
of  the  Establishment  by  coercion. 

Section  I. — On  the  Mainte'na7ice  of  Christian  Pastors 
by  the  State. 

Whatever  private  gifts  of  tithes  or  lands  have  been 
made  to  the  clergy  of  this  country,  their  possession  of 
tithes  throughout  England  and  Wales  must  be  traced  to 
law.  "About  the  year  794,  OfTa,  king  of  Mercia,  made 
a  law,  by  which  he  gave  unto  the  church  the  tithes  of  all 
his  kingdom."  ^  "  This  law  of  OfTa  was  that  which  first 
gave  the  church  a  civil  right  in  them  in  this  land,  by  way 
of  property  and  inheritance,  and  enabled  the  clergy  to 
gather  and  receive  them  as  their  legal  due  by  coercion  of 
the  civil  power."  ^  This  right  of  the  clergy  to  tithe,  which 
was   created   by  law,  has   been   since   confirmed,  by  the 

^  Burns'  "  Ecclesiastical  Law,"  9th  edit.  vol.  iii.  p.  679. 
«  lb.  p.  680. 


118   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

same  authority.  By  32  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  7,  "  All  persons 
of  this  realm  ....  shall  fully  pay  all  tithes  according  to 
the  lawful  customs  of  the  parishes  whence  such  tithes  be- 
come due."  ^  By  2  and  3  Ed.  VI.  cap.  13,  "  All  persons 
shall  pay  all  manner  of  parochial  tithes  as  of  right  or  cus- 
tom ought  to  have  been  paid."  ^  Further,  the  right  of  the 
clergy  to  a  great  proportion  of  the  tithes  paid  in  modern 
times  has  been  created  by  statute  since  the  Reformation  ; 
for  by  2  and  3  Ed.  VI.  cap.  13,  "All  such  barren  heather 
waste  ground  which  before  this  time  hath  lain  barren,  and 
paid  no  tithes  by  reason  of  the  same  barrenness,  and  now 
be,  or  hereafter  shall  be,  improved  and  converted  into 
arable  ground  or  meadow,  shall,  after  the  end  of  seven 
years  next  after  such  improvement,  pay  tithe  for  corn  and 
hay  growing  on  the  same."  ^  Thus  the  tithe,  which  is  the 
chief  maintenance  of  the  pastors  within  the  Establishment : 
has  been  given  to  them  by  the  State,  and  a  large  part  has 
been  given  since  the  Reformation. 

The  temporalities  of  the  bishops  have  been  no  less  the 
State's  gift.  A  bishop's  temporalities  are  all  such  things 
as  bishops  have  by  livery  from  the  king,  as  castles,  manors, 
lands,  fcc.'*  Of  thist  here  is  a  double  proof:  first,  the 
bishop  is  obliged  to  do  homage  for  them  to  the  Crown  ; 
and  secondly,  during  the  vacancy  of  each  see,  the  tempor- 
alities go  to  the  crown  as  the  existing  possessor.  "  When 
a  bishop  is  invested  and  consecrated,  the  bishop  being  in- 
troduced to  the  king's  presence,  shall  do  his  homage  for  his 
temporalities  or  barony  ;"  ^  and,  "  Upon  the  falling  of  a 
void  bishopric,  not  the  new  bishop,  but  the  king  by  his  pre- 
rogative, hath  the  temporalities  thereof,  from  the  time 
that  the  same  became  void,  to  the  time  that  the  new  bishop 
shall  receive  them  from  the  king."^ 

All  this  church  property  having  thus  been  bestowed  by 
the  State  upon  the  bishops  and  clergy,  the  State  has  de- 
termined upon  what  terms  it  shall  be  held,  and  by  the  Act 
of  Uniformity  transferred  the  whole  from  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic to  the  Protestant  clergy.      By  that  act,   1  Elizabeth, 

1  Burns,  vol.  iii.  p.  743.  ^  lb.  p.  745.  ^  lb.  p.  685. 

<  lb.  vol.  i.  p.  226.  Mb.  p.  211.  Mb.  p.  226. 


MAINTENANCE  OF  CHRISTIAN  PASTORS.  119 

"  Every  parson,  vicar,  or  other  minister,  was  required  to 
use  the  book  of  common  prayer  in  the  pubHc  services  of 
the  church,  and  no  other  rite,  ceremony,  order,  or  form. 
Every  clergyman  violating  this  law  was,  for  the  first 
offense,  to  forfeit  a  year's  stipend  and  be  imprisoned  six 
months  ;  and  for  the  second  offense,  to  be  imprisoned  a 
year,  and  be  deprived  of  all  his  spiritual  promotions,  and 
the  patron  might  present  to  his  living  as  if  he  were  dead." 
This  of  course  ejected  the  sincere  Catholics,  placing  Protest- 
ant ministers  in  their  room  ;  and  by  this  act  the  Protestant 
pastors  of  England  hold  the  State  ecclesiastical  property  at 
this  day,  instead  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  who  before 
possessed  it.  Up  to  the  Reformation  it  was  a  gift  of  the 
State  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Establishment.  After  the 
Reformation  it  was  a  gift  of  the  State  to  the  Protestant 
Establishment,  which  holds  it  to  this  day  on  the  terms 
which  the  State  has  imposed. 

By  6  and  7  William  IV.,  the  temporalities  of  the  bish- 
ops were  redistributed,  and  their  incomes  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent equalized.^  And  by  6  and  7  William  IV.,  7  William 
IV.,  1  Victoria,  cap.  69,  1  and  2  Victoria,  cap.  64,  and 
2  and  3  Victoria,  cap.  32,  a  corn-rent,  payable  in  money 
and  PERMANENT  IN  QUANTITY,  though  fluctuating  in  value, 
was  substituted  throughout  England  and  Wales  for  tithes.  ^ 
By  these  acts  the  legislature  has  exercised  the  right  of  re- 
distributing and  of  restricting  the  groivth  of  church  'prop- 
erty at  its  pleasure  ;  since  the  effect  of  a  fixed  corn-rent  is 
to  exempt  from  tithes  all  lands  which  are  henceforth 
brought  into  cultivation,  to  restrain  the  clergyman  from 
taking  advantage  of  any  improvements  in  cultivation,  and 
immensely  to  diminish  the  marketable  value  of  each  living. 
By  2  and  3  Ed.  VI.  cap.  13,  the  tithe-owner  may  sue  for 
tithe  in  the  ecclesiastical  court  ;^  and  by  6  and  7  WiUiam 
IV.  cap.  71,  when  the  rent-charge  is  in  arrear  for  twenty- 
one  days  after  the  yearly  days  of  payment,  the  person 
entitled  thereto  may  distrain.* 

From  these  various  acts  it  appears — 

1.   That  the  right  of  the  clergy  to  tithes  was   origi- 

^  Bums.  i.  195.  ^  jb.  iii.  698.  ^  lb.  750.  "  lb.  733. 


120    THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

nally  founded  not  on  private   gifts   but   on  public   enact- 
ments. 

2.  That  the  church  property  of  the  bishops  is  a  gift 
from  the  crown. 

3.  That  the  church  property  of  this  part  of  the  king- 
dom was  transferred  by  act  of  ParUament  from  Catholic 
priests  to  Protestant  pastors. 

4.  That  the  State  is  the  proprietor  of  this  church  prop- 
erty, which  it  grants,  resumes,  distributes,  increases,  or 
diminishes,  as  it  thinks  fit. 

5.  That  all  persons  holding  titheable  property  must 
contribute  to  the  maintenance  of  the  clergy,  whether  they 
approve  of  the  contribution  or  not,  since  the  clergy  may 
enforce  the  payment  of  their  dues  by  process  of  law. 

Upon  a  consideration  of  this  method  of  maintaining  the 
pastors  of  churches  we  come  to  two  questions  :  1 .  Is  it  agree- 
able to  Scripture?  2.  Does  it  work  well?  The  second 
question  will  be  more  conveniently  examined  in  another 
part  of  this  work  ;  let  us  now  consider  what  directions  the 
churches  have  received  in  the  New  Testament  respecting 
the  maintenance  of  their  pastors. 

Before  our  Lord  left  the  earth,  he  enjoined  upon  his 
disciples  to  ''go  into  all  the  ivorld  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature.'''"^  Agreeably  to  which  conmiand,  not 
only  did  the  apostles  preach  Christ  in  various  lands,  but 
when  the  church  of  Jerusalem  was  scattered  by  persecu- 
tion, its  members  "  went  every  where  preaching  the 
word,''  2  by  whose  means  many  were  converted  in  Antioch 
and  in  other  places.^  From  the  Thessalonian  church 
•'  sounded  out  the  ivord  of  the  Lord  in  Macedonia  and 
Achaia."^  The  Christians  of  Philippi  shone  "as  lights 
in  tJie  world,  holding  foj'th  the  ivord  of  lifef^  and  so 
zealously  did  the  first  Christians  fulfill  our  Lord's  com- 
mand, that  Paul,  writing  to  the  Colossians,  could  say, 
♦'  The  truth  of  the  gospel  is  come  unto  you  as  it  is  in  all 
the  world  ....  Which  ye  have  heard,  and  which  has 
been  preached  to  every  creature  ivhich  is  under  heaven''  ^ 

»  Mark  xvi.  15.  ^  Acts  viii.  4.  ^  Acts  xi.  19-21. 

*  1  Thess.  i.  8.  *  Phil.  ii.  15,  16.       «  Col.  i.  6,  23. 


MAIXTENANX'E  OF  CHRISTIAN  PASTORS.  121 

But  this  duty  was  not  left  entirely  to  the  zeal  of  private 
believers.  The  practice  of  the  apostles,  as  well  as  their 
language,  has  proved  that  it  was  Christ's  will  that  the 
best  qualified  members  of  churches  should  be  consecrated 
to  the  ministry.  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  solemnly  set 
apart  to  their  apostolic  mission  by  the  presbyters  at  Anti- 
och.^  Presbyters  were  appointed  by  the  apostles  and  their 
companions  in  all  the  churches  which  they  founded.^ 
There  were  presbyters  in  the  church  of  Ephesus,^  in  the 
church  at  Philippi,'*  in  the  Jewish  churches,^  and  in  the 
churches  which  were  addressed  by  St.  Peter.  ^  And  pas- 
tors and  evangelists  are  thus  spoken  of  as  a  permanent 
ordinance  of  Christ  :  "  Whe?t  he  ascended  up  07i  high,  he 
led  captivity  captive,  and  gave  gifts  unto  men  ....  And 
he  gave  some  apostles,  and  some  prophets,  and  some  evan- 
gelists, a7id  some  pas,tors  and  teachers,  for  the  "perfecting 
of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  tninistry,  for  the  edify- 
ing of  the  body  of  Christ :  till  we^  all  come  in  the  umty 
of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knoivledge  of  the  Soji  of  God, 
unto  a  perfect  man,  iinto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  tlte 
fidlness  of  Christ.''''''  Hence  minute  directions  are  given 
in  the  Epistles  to  Timothy  and  to  Titus  respecting  the 
class  of  persons  who  alone  should  be  appointed  to  this 
ministry.^  Although  the  ministers  thus  appointed  may 
labor  for  their  maintenance  when  circumstances  require  it, 
as  Paul  did  in  various  places,^  yet  it  is  generally  their  duty 
to  leave  secular  employments,  that  they  may  devote  them- 
selves wholly  to  the  ministry  ;  ^^  and  on  this  account  they 
ought  to  be  maintained.  Excluded  from  all  lucrative  em- 
ployments which  they  might  have  pursued,  and  consecrating 
their  time  and  faculties  to  the  service  of  the  churches,  they 
ought  to  be  maintained  by  them.  Our  Lord's  will  has 
been  distinctly  declared  in  this  matter  by  the  following 
statement  of  St.  Paul :  "  Do  ye  not  know  tliat  they  which 

^  Acts  xiii.  1 .  2  ^cts  ^iv.  23  ;  Tit.  i.  5.  ^  Acts  xx.  1 7. 

4  Phil.  i.  1.  5  Heb.  xiii.  7,  17.  M  Pet.  v.  1-4. 

7  Eph.  iv.  8-13.      8  1  Tim.  iii. ;  Tit.  i. 

9  Acts  xviii.  3  ;  xx.  34,  35 ;   1  Cor.  ix.  12-15  ;   1  Thess.  ii.  9. 
-°  Acts  vi.  2-4-   1  Tim.  ii.  4;  iv.  15. 

F 


122  THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

minister  about  holy  things  live  of  the  things  of  the  tem 
pie  ?  and  they  ivhich  ivait  at  the  altar  are  partakers 
tvith  the  altar  ?  Even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained  tJiat 
they  which  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel ^  ^ 
With  this  express  enactment  they  may  be  satisfied  ;  since 
he  has  promised  to  those  who  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness,  that  all  necessary  temporal  supplies 
shall  be  added  to  them.^  And  having  declared  that  he 
will  be  with  them  as  the  pr-eachers  of  his  gospel  to  the  end 
of  time,  he  can  not  let  them  want.^  His  own  faithful 
care  is  the  provision  for  his  ministers  ;  we  may  say  of  them 
much  more  than  of  the  Levites,  "  The  Lord  God  is  their 
inheritance r  ^  Christ  who  has  appointed  that  they  shall 
be  maintained,  will  secure  their  maintenance. 

But  the  mode  of  their  support  was  not  left  undecided.' 
Our  Lord  has  shown,  by  the  parable  of  the  sheep  and 
goats,  how  highly  he  esteems  kindness  which  is  done  to 
his  followers  for  his  sake.^  All  Christians  being  members 
of  one  body  are  required  to  sympathize  with  each  member 
in  distress.®  Even  foreign  brethren  in  distress  are  to  be 
the  objects  of  systematic  liberahty.'^  Those  churches  in 
the  apostolic  era  were  praised  who  gave  largely  to  relieve 
the  wants  of  foreign  Christians ;  ^  and  the  Corinthians 
were  exhorted  to  imitate  the  good  example.^  These  gen- 
eral principles  would  go  far  to  secure  a  provision  for  minis- 
ters from  the  justice  and  generosity,  the  faith  and  the  love, 
of  pious  churches.  But  in  addition  to  these  the  churches 
have  received  special  injunctions  respecting  the  support 
of  their  ministers.  ''Wlio  goeth  a  warfare  any  time  at 
his  oivn  clmrges  ?  tvlio  planteth  a  vineyard,  and  eateth 
TWt  of  the  fruit  thereof?  and  who  feedeth  the  flock,  and 
eateth  not  of  the  milk  of  the  flock  ?  ....  It  is  written 
in  the  law  of  Moses,   Thou  shall  not  muzzle  the  mcncth 

of  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn If  we  Jiave 

sown  unto  you  spiritual  things,  is  it  a  great  thing  if  ive 

^  1  Cor.  ix.  13,  14.  «  jy^^tt.  vi.  25-33.      ^  Matt,  xxviii.  20. 

*  Josh.  xiii.  33.  ^  jyjatt.  xxv.  34-40. 

«  1  Cor.  xii.  12,  26,  27.  ^  1  Cor.  xvi.  1,  2. 

«  2  Cor.  viii.  1-6.  ^  2  Cor.  viii.  7,  13,  14;  ix.  6,  7. 


MAINTENANCE  OF  CHRISTIAN  PASTORS.  123 

shall  reap  your  carnal  things  ?  .  .  .  .  Do  ye  not  know 
that  they  which  yninister  about  holy  things  live  of  the 
things  of  the  tonple  ?  and  they  ivhich  ivait  at  the  altar 
are  partakers  ivith  the  altar  ?  Even  so  hath  the  Lord 
ordained  tliat  they  ivhich  preach  the  gospel  should  live 
of  the  Gospel.""^  If  ministers  labor  for  the  churches,  the 
churches  should  maintain  them.  As  the  soldier  who  fights 
for  his  country  is  provided  for,  as  the  shepherd  receives 
wages  for  the  care  of  the  flock,  as  the  ox  who  threshed  out 
the  corn  was  allowed  to  eat  it,  and  as  the  priests  were 
maintained  for  their  attendance  at  the  temple,  so  it  is  the 
will  of  Christ  that  pastors  should  be  maintained  by  the 
churches.  Indeed,  this  is  matter  of  common  gratitude, 
since  temporal  support  is  afforded  in  return  for  spiritual 
benefits  ;  and  of  common  justice,  because  "  the  workman 
is  worthy  of  his  meat."  ^  In  the  6th  chapter  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Galatian  churches,  the  will  of  Christ  is  again  thus 
expressed  :  "  Let  hitn  tliat  is  taught  in  the  word  commu- 
nicate to  him  that  teacheth  in  cdl  good  things.'"  ^  To  the 
Thessalonians  was  this  exhortation  given — "  We  beseech 
you,  brethren,  to  know  them  which  labor  among  you,  and 
are  over  you  in  the  Lord,  and  admonish  you  ;  and  to 
esteem  them  very  highly  in  love  for  their  work's  sake,"* 
And  Timothy,  who  was  left  at  Ephesus  to  organize  the 
church  there,  received  from  Paul  the  following  directions 
with  respect  to  the  pastors  :  "  Let  the  elders  tvho  rule 
well  be  counted  ivorthy  of  double  honor,  especially  they 
who  labor  in  the  xvord  and  doctrine.  For  the  scripture 
saith,  Thou  shalt  'iwt  muzzle  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the 
corn  ;  and  The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  reward.''  ^  All 
these  injunctions  commit  the  honorable  support  of  their 
pastors  to  the  justice  and  generosity,  to  the  faith  and  the 
love  of  the  churches  :  and  as  Christ's  authority  can  never 
be  disregarded  by  his  disciples,  they  are  a  surer  and  more 
permanent  support  than  any  which  can  be  secured  to  them 
by  legal  enactments. 

Less  distinctly  and  repeatedly,  but  still  with  suflScient 

'  1  Cor.  ix.  7,  9,  11,  13,  14.         "^  UoXt.-^.lO.         »  Gal.  vi.  6. 
*  1  Thess.  V.  12,  13,  ^1  Tim.  v.  18. 


124   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

clearness,  has  our  Lord  intimated  his  will  that  evangelists 
also  should  be  maintained  by  Christians.  When  St.  Paul 
left  Philippi,  that  he  might  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  hea- 
thens throughout  Macedonia  and  Greece,  the  church  at 
Philippi  sent  him  the  supplies  which  he  needed,  and  were 
declared  by  him  to  "have  done  well."  ^  When  they 
further  sent  him  relief  to  Rome,  he  declared  that  it  was 
"a  sacrifice  acceptable,  well-pleasing  to  God."^  And  St. 
John  thus  commended  the  liberality  of  Gains  toward  cer- 
tain Christian  missionaries  :  "  Beloved,  thou  doest  faith- 
fidly  wJiatsoever  tlwu  doest  to  the  brethren  and  to  Gran- 
gers, ;  ivhich  have  borne  tvitness  of  thy  charity  before  the 
church  :  ivhom,  if  tlwu  bring  forward  on  their  journey 
after  a  godly  sort,  tlwu  sludt  do  tvell :  because  that  for 
his  name's  sake  they  icent  forth  taking  7iothing  of  the 
Gentiles.  We,  therefore,  ought  to  receive  such,  that  ice 
7night  be  fellow-helpers  to  the  truth.'"  "^ 

By  the  former  series  of  passages  the  churches  are  com- 
manded to  support  their  pastors ;  by  this  they  are  urged 
to  maintain  home  and  foreign  missions  till  the  Gospel  is 
"preached  to  every  creature." 

The  obedience  to  these  injunctions  manifested  by  the 
more  exemplary  of  the  apostolic  churches,  well  illustrates 
the  amount  of  the  provision  thus  made  by  our  Lord  for  his 
ministers.  As  we  have  already  noticed,  the  poor  and  per- 
secuted church  at  Philippi  not  only  gave  beyond  their 
means  to  supply  the  wants  of  their  poorer  brethren  in 
Judea,  but  also  sent  aid  to  Paul  when  he  was  preaching 
to  the  heathen.^  And  the  church  at  Jerusalem  afforded 
an  instance  of  self-denying  charity  which  I  suppose  to  be 
wholly  without  parallel ;  for,  when  the  bigotry  of  the  Jews 
necessarily  reduced  many  of  them  to  want,  the  rest  threw 
all  their  property  into  a  common  fund,  by  which  the  wants 
of  all  were  supplied.^ 

Thus,  by  the  liberality  of  the  churches,  and  the  self-de- 
nial of  the  ministers,  it  is  evident  that  pastors  were  provid- 
ed for  all  the  churches  at  a  time  when  few  rich  persons 

»  Phil.  iv.  14,  16.  2  Phil.  iv.  18.         ^  3  j^^n  5,  8. 

*  2  Cor.  viii.  1-5;  Phil.  iv.  16-18.  ^  Acts  ii.  47;  iv.  34. 


MAINTENANCE  OF  CHRISTIAN  PASTORS.  125 

ventured  to  profess  faith  in  Christ.  Ephesus  had  its  pres- 
byters ;  Philippi  its  bishops  and  deacons  ;  all  the  churches 
of  Asia  Minor  and  Crete  had  their  ministers ;  the  Hebrews 
had  theirs ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  any 
churches  were  without  them.^ 

Upon  a  review  of  these  passages  it  appears — 

1.  That  it  is  the  will  of  Christ  that  there  should  be 
pastors  for  the  churches,  and  evangelists  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  whole  world. 

2.  That  Christ  has  commanded  each  church  to  main- 
tain its  pastor  when  possible. 

3.  That  if  a  church  be  too  poor  other  churches  ought 
to  aid. 

4.  That  the  churches  should  likewise  support  evangelists 
who  preach  to  the  heathen. 

5.  That  Christ  has  committed  to  his  universal  church 
the  duty  of  supporting  his  ministers  throughout  the  world. 

6.  That  if  in  any  case  a  pastor  or  evangelist  can  not 
obtain  adequate  support  from  his  Christian  brethren,  that 
he  may  labor  in  any  secular  calling  for  his  own  mainte- 
nance. 

It  is  obvious  that  there  is  a  marked  contrast  between 
the  system  which  Christ  has  ordained  for  the  maintenance 
of  his  ministers,  and  that  which  has  been  preferred  by  the 
Anglican  churches  under  the  union. 

According  to  the  law  of  Christ,  the  pastor  is  to  be  main- 
tained by  the  zeal  of  the  church  ;  according  to  the  union, 
he  is  maintained  by  act  of  Parliament. 

According  to  the  law  of  Christ,  he  should  be  maintained 
by  the  believers  ;  according  to  the  union,  he  is  maintained 
by  persons  of  every  class,  including  Pwoman  Catholics,  Uni- 
tarians, infidels,  and  profligates. 

According  to  the  law  of  Christ,  he  should  be  maintained 
by  those  who  contribute  of  their  own  property  ;  according 
to  the  union,  the  State  has  voted  away  the  property  of 
others  to  maintain  him. 

According  to  the  law  of  Christ,  all  the  offerings  made 

*  Acts  XX.  17 ;  Phil.  i.  1  ^  Acts  xiv.  23  j  Tit.  i.  5;  Heb.  xiii.  7, 
17;  1  Pet.  V.  1-4;  James  v.  14. 


126   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

for  his  support  should  be  free  ;  by  the  union,  they  are  paid 
under  the  terror  of  distraint. 

The  moral  influences  of  these  two  systems  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  ministers  of  Christ  are  very  opposite. 

The  system  appointed  by  Christ  is  the  most  just,  because, 
according  to  it,  those  only  pay  for  instruction  who  receive 
it ;  while,  according  to  the  Anglican  system,  all  must  pay, 
whether  they  receive  it  or  not. 

The  system  appointed  by  Christ  calls  Christians  to  pay, 
who  pay  freely,  because  they  have  a  debt  to  discharge,  both 
to  Christ  and  to  their  pastors  ;  whereas  the  Anglican  sys- 
tem forces  many  to  pay  who  would  refuse  it  if  they  could. 

The  system  appointed  by  Christ  exercises  the  faith  and 
love  of  believers,  A^ho  thus  make  a  grateful  offering  to  him  ; 
but  the  Anglican  system  extorts  from  unbelievers,  by  fear 
of  the  law,  a  tax  which  is  reluctantly  paid  to  the  State. 

The  system  appointed  by  Christ  is  much  more  for  the 
comfort  of  a  pious  minister,  because  he  can  receive  with 
thankfulness  and  joy  what  his  brethren  contribute  with 
liberality  and  affection,  in  duty  to  Christ  and  in  justice  to 
him  ;  while  under  the  Anglican  system  he  must  extort  his 
income,  by  force  of  law,  from  those  who,  possibly,  curse 
both  him  and  his  religion  while  they  pay  it. 

The  system  appointed  by  Christ  tends  to  attract  both 
ministers  and  people  to  each  other,  since  under  it  ministers, 
receiving  their  support  from  the  affection  of  their  flocks, 
feel  grateful  for  it,  and  the  people  find  that  to  do  a  kind- 
ness is  as  much  a  source  of  affection  as  to  receive  it ;  but 
the  Anglican  system  alienates  both  parties,  the  pastor  hav- 
ing to  complain  of  arrears  and  of  evasions  of  payment,  while 
the  flock  are  tempted  to  think  their  shepherd  selfish  and 
severe. 

The  system  of  Christ,  demanding  the  support  of  the 
pastors  from  those  only  who  appreciate  the  value  of  the 
truth,  and  contribute  freely,  attracts  ungodly  persons  to 
hear  the  Gospel  without  money  and  without  price  ;  but 
the  Anglican  system,  which  taxes  them  for  what  they  dis- 
believe or  despise,  shuts  their  ears  against  the  truth. 

The  system  of  Christ  manifests  to  the  world  the  power' 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  127 

of  religion,  which  they  can  in  some  degree  measure  by  the 
sacrifices  which  Christians  freely  make  for  its  support ; 
while  the  Anglican  system  makes  the  world  believe  that 
Christians  are  as  selfish  and  covetous  as  they  are  them- 
selves, and  would  not  support  their  pastors  unless  they 
were  forced  to  do  so. 

Lastly,  according  to  the  system  appointed  by  Christ,  the 
best  ministers  are  generally  the  best  supported,  because 
Christians  can  appreciate  grace  as  well  as  gifts  in  their 
pastors  ;  but  under  the  Anglican  system,  the  richest  livings 
go  to  those  who  are  related  to  patrons,  and  thus  the  worst 
ministers  are  frequently  the  best  paid,  and  the  churches  are 
beset  with  those  who  have  sought  the  ministry  only  for  its 
emoluments. 

If  these  observations  are  correct.  Christians  who  allow 
their  pastors  to  be  paid  by  the  State  disregard  the  will  of 
Christ ;  impeach  his  wisdom  ;  neglect  their  duty  ;  injure 
their  Christian  characters  ;  maniifest  a  wordly  selfishness 
by  seeking  to  escape  from  a  just  remuneration  for  services 
received  ;  beg  alms  for  Christ's  officers  from  Christ's 
enemies  ;  excite  prejudice  against  the  Gospel  in  the  minds 
of  irreligious  tithe-payers  ;  impair  the  use  of  the  ministry  ; 
place  the  ministers  of  Christ  under  the  pay  and  influence 
of  ungodly  persons  ;  and  proclaim  to  the  world,  that  the 
disciples  of  Christ  can  not  maintain  his  worship  and  publish 
his  truth  unless  wordly  men  and  unbelievers  of  every  class 
will  help  them.  It  deserves,  therefore,  the  most  serious 
consideration  of  Christian  ministers  and  of  Christian 
churches,  whether  they  should  not  at  once  abandon  a 
system  so  dishonorable  to  the  Gospel,  and  return  to  that 
which  rests  on  the  authority  of  Christ. 

Section  II. —  The  Supremacy  of  the  State. 

One  consequence  arising  from  the  provision  which  is 
made  by  the  State  for  Christian  pastors,  is  that  it  claims 
and  exercises  the  right  of  superintendence  over  the  churches. 
This  right  is  asserted  in  the  following  statutes,  which  are 
still  in  force : — 


128   THE  UNION  CONDExMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

By  26  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  1,  "The  king,  his  heirs,  Sec, 
shall  be  taken,   accepted,   and  reputed   the  only  supreme 

head  on  earth  of  the  Church  of  England and  shall 

hare  power,  from  time  to  time,  to  visit,  repress,  reform, 
order,  correct,  restrain,  and  amend  all  such  errors,  heresies, 
abuses,  offenses,  contempts,  and  enormities  ....  which  by 
any  manner  of  spiritual  authority  or  jurisdiction  may  he 
lawfully  reformed^'  ^  &c. 

By  37  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  17,  it  is  enacted,  "Your  maj- 
esty is,  and  hath  always  justly  been,  the  supreme  head  on 
earth  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  hath  full  power  and 
authority  to  correct,  punish,  and  repress  all  manner  of 
heresies,  errors,  vices,  sins,  abuses,  idolatries,  hypocrisies, 
and  superstitions,  sprung  and  growing  within  the  same  ; 
and  to  exercise  all  other  manner  of  jurisdiction,  commonly 
called  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  ....  archbishops,  bishops, 
archdeacons,  and  othepi.  ecclesiastical  persons,  have  no 

MANNER  OF   JURISDICTION  ECCLESIASTICAL,  BUT  BY  AND  FROM 

YOUR  ROYAL  MAJESTY Forasmuch  as  your  majesty  is 

the  only  undoubted  and  supreme  head  of  the  Church  of 
England,  to  whom,  by  the  Holy  Scriptures,  all  authority 
ayid  power  is  wholly  give?i  to  hear  and  determine  all 
manner  of  causes  ecclesiastical,  and  to  correct  vice  and  sin 
icJmtsoever  ;  and  to  all  such  persons  as  your  majesty  shall 
appoint  thereunto  ....  may  it  be  ordained  and  enacted, 
by  authority  of  this  present  Parliament,  that  ail  and  sin- 
gular persons  as  well  lay  as  married,  being  doctors  of  civil 
law  ....  who  shall  be  appointed  to  the  office  of  chancellor, 
vicar-general,  commissary,  official,  scribe,  or  register,  may 
lawfully  execute  and  exercise  cdl  maimer  of  jurisdiction 
commonly  called  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  and  all  censures 
and  coercions  appertaining  to  the  same."  ^ 

By  1  Ed.  VI.  cap.  12,  "If  any  person  shall,  by  open 
preaching,  express  Avords  or  sayings,  affirm  ....  that  the 
king  is  not  or  ought  not  to  be  the  supreme  head  on  earth 
of  the  Church  of  England  ....  immediately  under  God, 
he,  his  aiders,  comforters,  abettors,  and  counselors,  shall  for 
the  first  offense  forfeit  his  goods,  and  be  imprisoned  during 
*  Bum's  Eccl.  Law,  vol.  iii.  p.  657.  '  lb.  vol.  ii.  p.  43. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  129 

the  king's  pleasure  ;  for  the  second  offense  shall  forfeit  his 
goods,  and  the  profits  of  his  lands  and  spiritual  promotions 
during  his  life,  and  also  be  imprisoned  during  his  life  ;  and 
for  the  third  offense  shall  be  guilty  of  high  treason."^  By 
1    Mary,   sess.   i.   cap.    1,  the  penalty  of  treason  was  re- 


By  1  Eliz.  cap.  i.  s.  17,  ''All  such  jurisdictions,  priv- 
ileges, superiorities,  pre-eminences,  sjnritual  ami  ecclesias- 
tical, as  by  any  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical  power  or  author- 
ity have  heretofore  been  or  may  lawfully  be  exercised  and 
used  for  the  visitation  of  the  ecclesiastical  state  and  persons, 
and  for  the  reformation,  order,  and  correction  of  sin,  and 
of  all  manner  of  heresies,  schisms,  abuses,  offenses,  contempts, 
and  enormities,  shall  forever  be  united  and  annexed  to  the 
imperial  crown  of  this  realm."  ^ 

By  canon  1,  the  convocation  in  synod,  a.  d.  1603,  or- 
dained that,  "  all  ecclesiastical  persons  shall  faithfully  keep 
and  observe  ....  all  and  singular  the  laws  and  statutes 
made  for  restoring  to  the  Crown  of  this  kingdom  the  ancient 
jurisdiction  over  the  State  ecclesiastical." 

By  canon  2,  "Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm  that  the 
king's  majesty  hath  not  the  same  authority  in  causes 
ecclesiastical  that  godly  kings  among  the  Jews  and  Chris- 
tian emperors  of  the  primitive  church,  or  impeach  any  'part 
of  his  royal  supremacy,  in  the  said  causes  restored  to  the 
Crown  and  by  the  laivs  of  this  realm  therein  established^ 
let  him  be  excommunicated  ipso  facto.'' 

By  canon  36,  "No  person  shall  hereafter  be  received 
into  the  ministry  ....  except  he  shall  first  subscribe  to 
these  three  articles  following — 1 .  That  the  king's  majesty, 
under  God,  is  the  only  supreme  governor  of  this  realm  .... 
as  well  in  all  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical  things  as  temporal," 
&c. 

These  statutes  plainly  declare  that  the  Crown  has  all 
such  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  as  has  ever  been 
exercised  by  any  spiritual  power  and  authority,  whether 
pope,  synod,  prelate,  or  church. 

2.   That  the  Crown  may  therefore  exercise  all  church 
^  Burn,  vol.  iii.  p.  658.  ^  lb.  vol.  ii.  p.  304. 

F*  ' 


130  THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

discipline  for  the  correction  of  heresy,  schism,  and  sin  of 
every  kind. 

3 .  That  bishops  and  pastors  have  no  manner  of  spiritual 
jurisdiction  within  the  churches  but  from  the  Crow^n. 

4.  That  the  Crown  may  delegate  its  spiritual  authority 
to  ecclesiastical  lawyers,  who  may  exercise  all  church  dis- 
cipline within  the  churches  in  its  name. 

And  by  the  canons  above  mentioned,  all  ministers  of  the 
Church  of  England  must  acknowledge  this  supremacy  of 
the  Crovm  in  spiritual  things,  must  faithfully  keep  and 
observe  these  statutes,  by  which  it  has  been  declared  and 
confirmed,  and  must  rwt  impeach  any  'part  of  it  on  pain 
of  excomm^unication. 

On  Thursday,  Feb.  27,  1845,  when  Lord  Fortescue  pre- 
sented petitions  to  the  House  of  Lords  for  a  revision  of  the 
rubric,  the  Bishop  of  Exeter  said,  "  Our  ancestors,  my 
lords,  were  much  too  wise,  much  too  virtuous,  and  much 
too  faithful,  to  think  of  transferring  a  spiritual  supremacy 
to  any  monarch  who  might  govern  these  realms."  To 
which  Lord  Brougham  replied,  "  I  differ  from  him  (the 
bishop)  in  one  point :  I  hold  the  power  of  Parliament  to 
be  paramount  in  every  matter  ;  that  over  every  thing  in 
the  country,  spiritual  or  temporal,  the  jurisdiction  of  Par- 
liament extends."  ^  The  following  extract  from  Hooker 
shows  that  he  agreed  with  Lord  Brougham :  "If  the 
action  which  we  have  to  perform  be  conversant  about 
matters  of  mere  religion,  the  power  of  performing  it  is  thus 
spiritual ;  and  if  that  power  be  such  as  hath  not  any  to 
overrule  it,  we  term  it  domimon  or  power  supreme,  so  fai 
as  the  bounds  thereof  extend.  When,  therefore.  Christian 
kings  are  said  to  have  spiritual  dominion,  or  supreme  power, 
in  ecclesiastical  affairs  and  causes,  the  meaning  is,  that 
within  their  own  precincts  and  territories  they  have  an 
authority  and  power  to  command  even  in  matters  of 
Christian  religion  ;  and  that  there  is  no  higher  or  greater 
that  can  in  those  cases  over-command  them  when  they  are 
placed  to  reign  as  kings."  ^  Since,  then,  the  Crown  has, 
according  to  statute,  "  All  spiritual  jurisdiction  which  can 

^  The  Times,  Feb.  28,  1845.  a  "Polity,"  book  viii. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  131 

be  exercised  by  any  spiritual  power,"  it  has,  according  to 
Hooker,  all  the  jurisdiction  in  spiritual  things,  in  "  matters 
of  mere  religion,"  which  has  ever  been  exercised  by  a 
bishop,  a  synod,  or  a  church. 

But  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  Lord  Brougham  claimed 
for  Parliament  what  the  bishop  denied  to  the  Crown,  his 
reason  being,  that  the  spiritual  power  of  the  Crown,  is  de- 
rived from  Parliament ;  and  in  this,  too,  he  was  correct. 
The  26  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  1,  declares,  "  the  king  shall  have 
power  from  time  to  time  to  visit,"  &c.  The  statute  of  1 
Eliz.  cap.  1,  enacts  that  spiritual  jurisdiction  "shall  for- 
ever be  united  and  annexed  to  the  imperial  Crown  of  this 
realm."  But  in  thus  making  the  sovereign  head  of  the 
church.  Parliament  has  not  abdicated  its  own  supremacy  ; 
for  while  the  sovereign  administers  the  ecclesiastical  laws 
as  he  does  the  civil.  Parliament  has  of  late  years  allowed 
no  other  legislation  for  the  church  than  its  own.  Various 
acts  show  how  much  the  Crown  derives  its  authority  from 
Parliament.  The  canons  of  the  church  have  no  force  till 
they  have  the  king's  assent ;  but  this  is  by  25  Hen.  VIII. 
cap.  19,  and  not  by  any  underived  authority  in  the 
Crown.  ^ 

Any  doctors  of  law  appointed  by  the  Crown  may  exer- 
cise all  manner  of  spiritual  jurisdiction  ;  but  the  Crown 
derives  this  right  from  the  statute  of  37  Hen.  VIII.  cap. 
17. 

There  are  various  cases  in  which  the  ecclesiastical 
court  is  now  forbidden  to  pronounce  excommunication, 
though  it  recently  could  do^so.  As  this  innovation  could 
not  be  accomplished  by  authority  of  the  Crown,  it  was 
effected  by  53  Geo.  III.  cap.  127.  When  the  act,  59 
Geo.  III.,  was  passed  to  assign  districts  to  chapels-of-ease, 
the  following  expression  was  inserted  with  respect  to  cer- 
tain commissioners  appointed  by  the  Crown  :  "It  shall  be 
lawful  for  the  commissioners  to  assign  a  district,"  proving 
that  without  such  act  the  royal  commissioners  could  not 
have  assigned  it.  Precisely  similar  language  was  em- 
ployed   in    subsequent    acts   relating    to    similar   matters. ^ 

'  Burn,  vol.  ii.  p.  24.  ^  lb.  vol.  i.  pp.  306S  306'^. 


132   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

The  appeal  whicli  formerly  lay  from  the  court  of  Arches 
to  the  court  of  Delegates,  has  been  transferred  to  the  judi- 
cial committee  of  the  privy  council.  This  was  efiected 
not  by  the  prerogative  of  the  Crown,  but  by  two  statutes, 
2  and  3  Will.  IV.  cap.  72,  and  3  and  4  Will.  IV.  cap. 
41.  Which  fact  is  the  more  to  be  observed  because  the 
transfer  of  the  authority  from  the  one  court  to  the  other 
was  intended  not  to  efiect  any  ecclesiastical  object  which 
was  before  illegal,  but  simply  to  accomplish  certain  legal 
objects  in  a  less  objectionable  manner.  And  so  late  as  in 
the  present  reign,  the  bishop,  with  three  assessors,  is  em- 
powered not  by  the  Crown,  but  by  the  church-discipline 
act,  3  and  4  Vict.,  to  pronounce  sentence  on  various  eccle- 
siastical ofienses.  These  acts  abundantly  prove,  that  the 
supremacy  of  the  State  is  lodged  derivatively  and  partially 
in  the  Crown,  but  is  underived  and  plenary  in  the  Parlia- 
ment, justifying  Lord  Brougham's  expression,  that  "  over 
every  thing  in  the  country,  spiritual  or  temporal,  the 
jurisdiction  of  Parliament  extends."  With  him.  Hooker 
holds  the  legislature  to  be  the  source  of  the  king's  suprem- 
acy. "  Who  doubteth  but  that  the  king  who  receiveth  it 
must  hold  it  of  and  under  the  laiv,  according  to  the  axiom, 
Rex  non  debet  esse  sub  ho?nine,  sed  sub  Deo  et  lege."  ^' 
"  The  best-established  dominion  is  where  the  law  doth 
most  rule  the  king  ;  the  true  effect  Avhereof  is  found  par- 
ticularly as  well  in  ecclesiastical  as  civil  affairs. "^  The 
king  is  Major  singulis,  universis  miiior'''  ^  "  The  axioms 
of  our  regal  government  are  these.  Lex  facit  regetn  :  Rex 
nihil  potest  nisi  quod  jure  pot^t^  ^ 

The  actual  state,  then,  of  the  churches  of  Christ  within 
the  Establishment  is,  that  the  Crown  can  exercise  a  spiritual 
supremacy  over  them  in  all  ecclesiastical  cases,  and  that 
the  legislature  has  a  higher  and  more  absolute  power  still 
over  them. 

Bishop  Warburton's  account  of  this  union  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  church  resigns  up  her  independency,  and  makes  the 

magistrate  her  supreme  head,  without  whose  approbation 

and  allowance  she  can  administer,  transact,  or  decree  no- 

'  Hooker,  book  viii.  ^  jj^  3  jj,  4  i\^ 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  133 

thing.  For  the  State,  by  this  alhance,  having  undertaken 
the  protection  of  the  Church,  and  protection  7iot  being  to 
be  afforded  to  any  community  ivithoiit  poiver  over  it  in 
the  community  protecting,  it  follows  that  the  civil  magis 
trate  must  be  supreme.  Protection  is  a  kind  of  guardian- 
ship ;  and  guardianship,  in  its  very  nature,  impHes  super- 
iority and  rule.^  ...  No  other  jurisdiction  is  given  to  the 
civil  magistrate  by  this  supremacy  than  the  church,  as  a 
mere  political  body,  exercised  before  the  convention."  ^ 

This  supremacy  is  admitted  by  Hooker  to  be  wholly  a 
matter  of  law.  "  As  for  supreme  power  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs  the  word  of  God  doth  nowhere  appoint  that  all 
kings  should  have  it,  neither  that  any  should  not  have  it  ; 
for  which  cause  it  seemeth  to  stand  altogether  by  human 
right  that  unto  Christian  kings  there  is  such  dominion 
given."  ^ 

But  this  supremacy  of  the  State,  without  divine  author- 
ity, is  incompatible  with  the  rights  of  Christ. 

The  Scripture  declares  that  Christ  is  the  king  of  his 
church,''  and  therefore  to  allow  the  State  to  rule  over  it 
without  his  authority,  is  as  much  treasonable  as  it  would 
be  in  Ireland  or  in  Canada  to  elect  a  foreigner  for  its  ruler, 
without  reference  to  the  will  of  our  sovereign. 

Christ  is  the  head  and  master  of  his  church,  as  a  man 
is  head  and  master  of  his  own  household.^  And  when 
any  churches  without  authority  from  him  allow  spiritual 
dominion  over  them  to  a  stranger,  they  are  revolting  against 
his  authority,  as  much  as  servants  would  be  who  in  their 
master's  absence  should  invite  another  to  assume  the  direc- 
tion of  his  house.  Christ  has  condescended  to  represent 
the  church  in  Scripture  as  his  bride,  and  himself  as  the 
husband  of  the  church.*^  And  because  the  Church  of 
Rome  has  given  to  others  the   honor  due  to   him,  it  is 

^  Warburton's  "Alliance,"  book  ii.  c.  3.  ^  lb. 

^  Hooker,  book  viii. 

*  Psalm  xi.  6;  Isaiah  ix.  6,  7;  Dan.  vii.  14;  Zech.  ix.  9j  John 
xviii.  37,  39;  xix.  19;  Col.  i.  13;   2  Cor.  x.  5,  &c. 

5  Heb.  iii.  5,  6;   Gal.  vi.  10. 

6  Eph.  V.  22,  23,  25 ;  2  Cor.  xi.  2 ;  John  iii.  29 ;  Rom.  vii.  4 ; 
Rev.  xix.  7 ;  xxi.  9. 


134    THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

termed  in  the  word  of  God  a  harlot,  and  every  church  in 
communion  with  that  corrupt  church  is  termed  a  harlot 
too.^  Whenever,  therefore,  any  church  allows  one  who  is 
without  Christ's  authority  to  rule  over  it,  it  is  acting  as  a 
wife  who  should  allow  a  stranger  to  rule  over  her  in  her 
husband's  absence.  That  church  would  be  guilty  of  adul- 
tery as  the  Church  of  Rome  has  been.  And,  again,  the 
church  is  termed  in  Scripture  the  body,  of  which  Christ  is 
the  head  :  ^  and  a  church  which  therefore  makes  the  magis- 
trate its  head,  becomes  a  body  with  two  heads,  a  deformity 
— a  monster.  And  all  this  is  what  the  Church  of  England 
has  done.  In  allowing  to  the  State  this  spiritual  dominion 
over  it,  it  has  become  treasonable,  rebellious,  adulterous, 
and  unnatural ;  it  is  a  community  with  two  spiritual  kings, 
a  household  with  two  separate  masters,  a  wife  with  two 
husbands,  a  body  with  two  heads. 

It  is  of  no  avail  for  an  advocate  of  the  union  to  allege 
that  the  king  is  only  head  of  the  church  under  Christ. 
Where  is  Christ's  appointment  ?  Did  our  Ijord  appoint 
the  profligate  Charles  II.,  or  the  Komanist  James  II.,  to 
be  his  vicegerent  ?  If  not,  the  established  churches  had 
no  more  right  to  make  either  of  those  persons  their  head 
without  the  consent  of  Christ,  than  a  convention  of  Irish- 
men might  make  the  pope  their  supreme  ruler  under  the 
Queen. 

Nor  is  it  of  any  avail  to  allege  that  the  Establishment 
has  taken  care  to  reserve  the  rights  of  Christ,  and  allows 
not  the  State  to  enact  any  thing  against  his  law.  Were 
this  as  true  as  it  is  false,  the  infidelity  of  the  Establishment 
would  remain  apparent.  Even  if  none  of  the  laws  of 
Christ  were  violated  by  the  enactment  of  the  State,  each 
minister  who  allows  the  supremacy  of  the  State  in  return 
for  State-pay  acts  like  an  embassador,  who,  residing  at  a 
foreign  court,  accepts  a  pension  from  the  foreign  govern- 
ment, and  allows  it  to  direct  all  his  movements  provided  it 
enjoins  nothing  contrary  to  the  express  instructions  of  his 
own  sovereign.  Such  an  embassador  would  be  ignomini- 
ously  dismissed  by  any  prince  in  Europe.      What  account 

2  Rev.  xviii.  1,  2,  5.  ^  Col.  i.  18;  Eph.  i.  23. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  135 

will  the  embassadors  of  Christ  have  to  give  to  him  for  con- 
senting to  he  pensioners  of  the  State  ? 

But  further  ;  it  is  a  mere  imagination  that  the  State 
can  exercise  spiritual  jurisdiction  without  violating  any  of 
the  laws  of  Christ,  as  a  glance  at  its  enactments  may 
ehow. 

The  supremacy  of  the  State  determines  the  settlement 
of  pastors  within  the  Establishment,  its  doctrine  and  wor- 
ship, its  discipline  and  government  ;  and  in  each  of  these 
points  the  union  violates  the  law  of  Christ. 

1.  According  to  the  law  of  Christ,  no  persons  are  to 
be  pastors  of  churches  but  pious  and  faithful  men.  "  A 
bishop  (i.  e.  a  pastor)  must  be  blameless,  as  the  steward  of 
God;  not  self-ivilled,  not  soon  angry,  rwt  given  to  wine, 
no  striker,  not  given  to  filthy  lucre  ;  but  a  lover  of  hospi- 
tality, a  lover  of  good  men,  sober,  just,  holy,  temperate, 
holding  fast  the  faithful  tvord,'"  ^  &c.  Bad  men  are  no 
ministers  of  Christ,^  and  hence  the  churches  were  directed 
to  beware  of  all  ungodly  teachers,  and  not  receive  them.^ 

Further  ;  according  to  the  apostolic  precedents,  which 
have  the  force  of  laws  among  Christians,  the  churches 
elected  their  ministers.  The  whole  congregation  at  Jeru- 
salem selected  the  two  brethren,  one  of  whom  was  to  be 
chosen  by  lot  to  fill  the  place  of  the  apostate  Judas."*  The 
whole  congregation  chose  their  deacons  ;^  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  pastors  for  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor  by  Paul 
and  Barnabas  is  thus  recorded  by  Luke  :  "  Whe?i  they 
had  elected  elders  for  them  by  the  slww  of  liands  in  every 
church,  and  had  prayed  with  fasting,  they  commended 
them  to  the  Loi'dT  ^ 

^  Tit.  i.  7-9;   1  Tim.  iii.  1-12;   Acts  xx.  28;  Eph.  iv.  11-14 

3  2  Cor.  xi.  5;   Gal.  v.  12;   Matt.  vii.  21,  22. 

3  Matt.  vii.  15;   John  x.  5;   Gal.  v.  12;   2  John  10. 

■*  Acts  i.  *  Acts  vi. 

^  Acts  xiv.  23.  The  words  are,  x^'-P^'^^'^^^'^'^'^^^  ^^  avrolq  irpea- 
(3vTipov^  Kar'  kKKlr^alav,  &c.,  the  meaning  of  which  is,  that  they  ap- 
pointed them  by  popular  election,  as  appears  from  the  following 
considerations  : — 

XeipoTovetJ,  q.  d.  t^v x^^-P^  te'lvu.  Manum  protendo.  Hoc  autera 
quia  fiebat  in  suffragiis  ferendis,  hinc  factum  est  ut  ponatur  pro 


136    THE  UNIOxN  CONDEININED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

Congregational  election  having  thus  been  instituted  by 
the    apostles   continued    for  a  considerable   period   in   the 

scisco,  decerno,  creo.      Acts  xiv.  23.     XsipoTov^aavTe^,  cum  creas 
sent,  seu  potiiis  per  suffragia  creassent. — Stephen. 

"  'EKK?.r]aia  (the  congregration)  was  an  assembly  of  people  met 
together  accoi'ding  to  law  to  consult  about  the  good  of  the  common- 
■wealth." 

"  When  the  debates  were  ended,  the  crier  asked  the  people 
whether  they  would  consent  to  the  decree." 

"  The  manner  of  giving  their  suffrages  was  by  holding  up  their 
hands  ;  and  therefore  they  called  it  x^^poTovia :  and  x^'-porovelv  sig- 
nified to  ordain  or  establish  any  thing ;  a7ro;t;etprot'£<v,  to  disannul 
by  suffrage." — Potter'^s  Antiquities,  Ed.  1818.  Vol.  i.  pp.  107, 
113. 

XEipoToveo),  x^iporovLa,  and  their  compounds,  are  frequently  used 
in  the  sense  of  popular  election  by  the  show  of  hands,  and  rarely, 
if  ever,  in  any  other  sense,  by  Aristophanes,  Demosthenes,  ^schines, 
Plutarch,  and  Xenophon.      See  the  instances  collected  by  Stephen. 

XeipoTovsu,  to  vote  by  holding  up  the  hands,  intrans.  In  N.T. 
trans,  to  choose  by  vote.      Acts  xiv.  23. — Robinson^ s  Lexicon. 

The  only  other  place  where  the  word  is  used  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  2  Cor.  viii.  19,  Ov  fiovov  di  aXTiu.  koI  x^'POTovTfOelc  vtto  tuv 
EKK?ii]aiu)v,  &c.  And  not  that  only,  but  who  was  also  chosen  (by 
suffrage)  of  the  churches,  &c. 

As  the  x^i-poTovia  in  the  civil  kKKTirjaia  signified  always  election 
by  suffrage,  so  it  bore  the  same  signification  in  the  Christian 
kKxTirjaia. 

Refert  enim  Lucas  constitutes  esse  per  ecclesias  presbyteros  a 
Paulo  et  Barnaba  :  sed  rationem  vel  modum  simul  notat  quum  dicit, 
factum  id  esse  suffragiis  :  ;\ffipo-oyj7(Tavrif,  inquit,  TipeOjivTipovg  kqt' 
iKKXrjaiav- — Calv.  Inst.  lib.  iv.  cap.  iii.  sec.  15. 

XeipoTov7J(yavT€C  avrolg  TrpeafSvTepovc,  &c.,  quum  ipsi  per  suffragia 
creassent  per  singulas  ecclesias  presbyteros.  Ortum  est  hoc  verbum 
ex  Graecorum  consuetudine,  qui  porrectis  manibus  suffragia  ferebant. 
Est  autem  notanda  vis  hujus  verbi,  ut  Paulum  ac  Barnabam  sciamus 
nihil  privato  arbitrio  gessisse  nee  ullam  in  ecclesia  exercuisse  tyran- 
nidem,  nihil  denique  tale  fecisse  quale  hodie  Romanus  Papa,  et 
ipsius  asseclse  quos  ordinaries  vocant. — Beza,  ad  loc. 

Acts  xiv.  23.  Et  cura  suffragiis  creassent  illis  per  singulas 
ecclesias  presbyteros,  &c. 

Iterum  commendatur  nobis  ordinaria  electio.  .  .  .  Eligitur  enira 
communibus  populi  suffragiis,  qui  optimorum  testimonio  probatus 
est. — Bullingcr,  ad  loc. 

Quoniam  evangelii  profectus  id  postulabat,  ut  apostoli  per  varias 
regiones  vagarentur,  delectos  populi  suffragiis  per  singulas  civitates 
presbyteros  prasfecerunt  illis,  ut  absentium  apostolorum  vices  gererent 
Pelliddn,  ad  loc. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  137 

Christian  churches.  Mosheim,  the  learned  Presbyterian 
historian,    Bingham,  the   Episcopalian  collector   of  eccle- 

Acts  xiv.  23.     "Quumque  ipsis  per  suffragia  creassent,"  &c. - 

Piscator,  ad  loc. 

"  E  dopo  ch'  ebbero  loro  per  ciascuna  chiesa  ordinati,  per  voti 
communi,  degli  anziani." — Diodati. 

When  they  had  by  common  votes  ordained,  viz.  with  the  appro- 
bation and  consent  of  the  churches,  to  whom  this  right  was  anciently 
preserved,  even  from  the  apostles'  time. — Diodati,  nd  loc. 

Notandum    quod    apostoli  ....  presbyteros,    constituerint    per 

XeipoTovlav  sive  suffragia  fidelium Erasmus  hie,  "  ut  intelli. 

gamus  suffragiis  delectos."  ....  Grotius,  "accessisse  consensum 
plebis  credibile  est  ob  id,  quod  in  re  minori  supra  habuimus." — Cap. 
vi.  2,  8.  Ergo  x^i-porovdv  hie  dicitur  de  apostolis,  quemadmodum 
apud  Demost.  de  voiiodiraig,  qui  suffragiis  prcesidebant.  Sequentibus 
temporibus  vocabulum  x^i-P^^'^^'^^:  <^^*^  P^^^^  suffragari  desiisset,  pro 
episcopali  creatione  presbyterorum,  et  ;i:f<po&e(7m  usurpatum  est. 
Sed  diu  etiam  in  Ecclesia  Romana  retentum  est,  ut  episcopus  certe 
non  sine  populi  assensu  crearetur. — Coceeiits,  ad  loc. 

XetpoTovelv  apud  Graecos  veteres  proprie  et  primarie  significat 
eligere,  vel  per  suffragia  creare  :  tandem*  vero,  ut  multce  voces  alice, 
significationem  mutavit ;  valetque  tantum  creare,  vel  constituere, 
vel  ordinare ;  quo  sensu  verbum  hoc  usurpat  turn  Philo  ....  turn 
Lucianus  ....  tum  Maximus  Tyrius. — Poole,  ad  loc. 

"When  they  had,"  with  the  concurrent  suffrage  of  the  people, 
"constituted  presbyters  for  them  in  every  church."  The  old  En- 
glish Bible  translated  it,  "  When  they  had  ordained  them  elders  by 
election."  The  celebrated  author  just  mentioned  (Mr.  Harrington) 
has  endeavored  largely  to  vindicate  this  interpretation  from  the  ex- 
ceptions of  Dr.  Hammond,  Dr.  Seaman,  and  others,  who  make 
XeipoTovia  the  same  with  x^'podsoia. — Doddridge,  ad  loc. 

Acts  xiv.  23.  "When  they  had  ordained  them  elders  by  election 
in  every  church." — Geneva  Bible. 

"When  they  had  ordained  them  elders  by  election  in  every  con- 
gregation."—  Tyndale,  Cranmcr. 

Martin. — "  So  they  do  force  this  word  here  to  induce  the  people's 
election ;  and  yet  in  their  churches  in  England  the  people  elect  not 
ministers,  but  their  bishop.  Whereas  the  Holy  Scripture  saith,  they 
ordained  to  the  people ;  and  whatsoever  force  the  word  hath,  it  is 
here  spoken  of  the  apostles,  and  pertaineth  not  to  the  people." 

Fulke. — "  We  mean  not  to  enforce  any  other  election  than  the 
word  doth  signify ;  neither  do  our  bishops  (if  they  do  well)  ordain 
any  ministers  or  priests  without  the  testimony  of  the  people,  or  at 
leastwise  of  such  as  be  of  most  credit  where  they  are  known. 
Where  you  use  the  pronoun  avrol^,  'to  them,'  as  though  the  people 
gave  no  consent  nor  testimony,  it  is  more  than  ridiculous,  and,  beside 
that,  contrary  to  the  practice  of  the  primitive  church  for  many  hun- 


138  THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

siastical  antiquities,  Dean  Waddington,  Paolo  Sarpi,  the 
Roman  Catholic  historian  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Coun- 

dred  years  after  the  apostles.  That  the  word  xf^i^poTovia  by  the  fa- 
thers of  the  church  since  the  apostles,  hath  been  drawn  to  other  signifi- 
cations than  it  had  before,  it  is  no  reason  to  teach  us  how  it  was  used 
by  the  apostles.'''' 

Martin. — "  Concerning  ;^;£tporovm,  St.  Jerome  telleth  them  in 
chap.  Iviii.  Esai,  that  it  signifieth  giving  of  holy  orders,  which  is 
done  not  only  by  prayer  of  the  voice,  but  by  the  imposition  of  the 
hand  ....  Where  these  great  etymologists,  that  so  strain  the  orig- 
inal nature  of  this  word  to  profane  stretching  forth  the  hand  in  elec- 
tions, may  learn  another  ecclesiastical  etymology  thereof  ....  to 
wit,  putting  forth  the  hand  to  give  orders." 

Fulke. — "  The  testimony  of  St.  Jerome,  whom  you  cite,  you  under- 
stand not  ...  .  His  purpose  is  not  to  tell  what  x^^po'^^'^^  properly 
doth  signify,  but  that  imposition  of  hands  is  required  in  lawful  ordi- 
nation, which  many  did  understand  by  the  word  x^^^poTovia,  although 
in  that  place  it  signified  no  such  matter.  And,  therefore,  you  must 
seek  further  authority  to  prove  your  ecclesiastical  etymology,  that 
XetpoTovia  signifieth  putting  forth  of  the  hands  to  give  orders.  The 
places  you  quote  in  the  margin,  out  of  the  titles  of  Nazianzen's  Ser- 
mons, are  to  no  purpose,  although  they  were  in  the  text  of  his  hom- 
ilies. For  it  appeareth  not,  although  by  synecdoche  the  whole  order 
of  making  clerks  were  called  x^'-PO'!'ovia,  that  election  was  excluded 
where  there  was  ordination  by  imposition  of  hands.  As  for  that  you 
cite  out  of  Ignatius,  it  proveth  against  you,  that  x^i^poTovelv  differeth 
from  imposition  of  hands ;  because  it  is  made  a  distinct  office  from 
Xeipoderelv,  that  signifieth  to  lay  on  hands  :  and  so  x^i-POTovca  and 
iTiidecic  ruv  x^ip^^  by  your  own  author  do  differ." — Jl  Defense  of 
the  English  Translations  of  ^he  Bible  against  the  Cavils  of  Gregory 
Martin,  by  William  Fulke,  D.D.,  blaster  of  Pembroke  Hall,  Cam- 
bridge.    Edition  of  Parker  Society,  pp.  245-248. 

Acts  xiv.  23.  "  Lorsque  par  I'avis  des  assemblees,  ils  eurent 
etabli  des  pretres  ou  des  pasteurs  dans  chaque  eglise,"  &c. — Le 
Siieur,  Histoire  de  V Eglise.     Geneva,  1674.     P.  159. 

To  all  this  argument  it  is  objected  that  the  word  x^t^P'^'^'^vtlv  may 
mean,  either,  first,  to  ordain  by  imposition  of  hands  [Hammond  in 
Dod.  ad  loc.)  ;  or,  secondly,  to  select  or  appoint,  as  the  word  Trpo- 
XeipoToviu,  Acts  x.  41  {Bloomficld,  Recensio  ad  loc.)  :  but  that  it 
can  not  mean  "  to  constitute  those  whom  others  have  elected." 
(Campbell  and  Bloomfield.) 

The  first  of  these  senses  is  inadmissible,  because  the  word  x^i^po- 
rovia  never  had  the  sense  of  ;ff<po0i(Tm  in  any  writer,  sacred  or 
classical,  to  the  time  of  the  Book  of  Acts ;  and  it  is  no  more  allow- 
able to  give  it  this  meaning,  because  later  ecclesiastical  writers  so 
employed  it,  than  it  would  be  to  understand  the  word  kniaKOTro^  to 
mean,  in  the  New  Testament,  a  prelate  instead  of  a  presbyter,  or 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  139 

cil  of  Trent,  and  Beza,  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  Calvin- 
istic    churches,   Neander,   the    Lutheran  historian    of  our 

the  word  EKKXijaia  to  mean  a  building,  or  a  body  of  cleriry,  or  an 
aggregate  of  local  churches  in  an  entire  nation,  instead  of  a  Christian 
assembly,  because  these  words  subsequently  received  these  new  sig- 
nifications. The  second  sense  of  selection  by  individuals  the  word 
has  :  but  this  is  a  rare  and  derived  sense,  not  to  be  resorted  to  with- 
out necessity.  It  is  true  that  the  sense  of  causing  to  elect,  or  elect- 
ing by  means  of  others,  is  also  rare  and  derived  :  but  it  is  so  acrree- 
able  to  common  usage  in  other  words,  that  it  might  be  admitted 
here,  even  if  no  instance  of  it  could  be  found  in  any  classical  writer. 
Men  are  constantly  said  to  do  that  which  they  direct  others  to  do. 
An  architect  is  said  to  build  a  house,  because  he  superintends  the 
builders  ;  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty  are  said  to  launch  a  vessel, 
when  it  is  launched  under  their  order ;  and  a  king  is  said  to  invade 
a  country,  when  he  sends  his  troops  to  invade  it.  Thus,  Luke  might 
write  that  the  apostles  Paul  and  Barnabas  elected  presbyters  by  suf- 
frage, when  they  caused  them  to  be  so  elected.  In  this  causative 
sense  the  same  writer  has  used  the  word  Kpivu  in  the  following  pas- 
sage :  He  hath  appointed  a  day  in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world 
in  righteousness  by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained  (Acts  xvii.  31). 
As,  therefore,  God  is  said  to  judge  the  world,  because  he  has  ap- 
pointed Christ  to  judge  it ;  so  Paul  and  Barnabas  may  be  said  to 
have  elected  the  presbyters  by  vote,  because  they  appointed  them  to 
be  so  elected.  Luke  might  use  the  word  x^i^poroveu  in  this  sense, 
even  if  Xenophon  or  Demosthenes  never  had  occasion  so  to  employ 
it.  But  Cocceius  remarks,  "  ;t;ciporoi'£iz.'  hie  dicitur  de  apostolis, 
quemadmodum  apud  Demosthenem  de  vofiodtraig^  qui  suffragiis  prcesi- 
debanty  One  of  the  passages  to  which  he  may  allude  is  the  follow- 
ing, in  the  oration  against  Timocrates  :  Twv  6e  vopiuv  rwv  Kei^evuv 
fiTj  t^Elvai  AvGat  fiTjdiva,  tav  fir}  kv  voyLO^ETaiq.  Tore  df  s^elvai  tC> 
fiovXofievu  Tuv  ' AOTjvaiuv  "kvetv,  erepov  ridivTi  dvO'  otov  uv  7^vrj.  Aca- 
XeipoTovlav  6e  iroislv  tovc  Tvpoedpovg  nepl  tovtuv  tuv  voficjv  TzpuTov 
HEV  irtpi  Tov  KEinivov,  el  SoKel  eKiTTjdeio^  elvai  Tcj  dTjuu  tCjv  'Adrjvaitjv, 
7j  ov  ■  enEira  Trepl  tov  ride/uivov.  'OitoTipov  6'  uv  x^'-PO'''ovT](yo)aLv  ol 
vofjLode-aL,  TovTov  KvpLov  elvaL  (Oratores  Graeci,  Reiske,  vol.  i.  p.  710). 
The  office  of  the  vo/xodETac  "  was  not  to  enact  new  laws  by  their 
own  authority,  for  that  could  not  be  done  without  the  approbation  of 
the  senate  and  the  people's  ratification ;  but  to  inspect  the  old ;  and 
if  they  found  any  of  them  useless  or  prejudicial,  as  the  state  of  affairs 
then  stood,  or  contradictory  to  others,  they  caused  them  to  be  abro- 
gated by  an  act  of  the  people'''  {Potter's  Ant.  i.  92).  Agreeably  to 
this  statement  of  Archbishop  Potter,  it  appears  from  the  passage 
before  us,  that  a  new  law  proposed  at  Athens,  after  having  been 
allowed  by  the  vo/jLodirai^  was  to  be  brought  before  the  eKKXrjcia^  or 
assembly.  The  TrpoEdpot,  or  presidents,  were  then  -n-oieiv  diaxeipo- 
Toviav,  to  determine  by  the  show  of  hands,  first,  whether  the  old  law 


140   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

own  days,  Bost,  the  author  of  "  The  History  of  the  Mora- 
vian Brethren,'"  and  even  Hooker,^  with  his  strong  anti- 

should  be  abrogated,  secondly,  whether  the  proposed  law  should  be 
enacted.  And  as  the  vopiodsrai^  or  proposers  of  laws,  originated 
the  act  of  the  iKKlrjaia,  they  were  said  x^^P^Toveiv  rov  vofiov,  to 
enact  the  law  by  the  show  of  hands.  Exactly  in  the  same  manner, 
the  apostles,  who  held  in  the  Christians'  kKnAriaia  exactly  the  offices 
of  the  rrpoedpoi  and  the  vofioderai  in  the  civil  kKK7.T)ma.  might  be  said, 
as  presiding  over  the  church,  tvouIv  dcaxeipoToviav.,  and  as  instituting 
the  election  of  the  presbyters  x^i-POTovslv  Tovg  Trpta^vTipovg. 

Snice,  then,  the  causative  sense  of  ;i:E<porov£Q  is  as  admissible  as 
its  sense  of  individual  selection,  there  are  the  following  reasons  for 
preferring  the  former  : — 

It  is  nearer  to  the  original  and  common  sense  of  the  word,  which 
is  to  enact,  or  elect  by  suffrage. 

As  the  usual  sense  of  the  word  is  to  elect  by  sufirage,  had  Luke 
wished  to  exclude  the  idea  of  suffrage  on  this  occasion,  he  would 
have  used  the  word  eKXeyoiuai,  or  KadLcTtjfii,  or  some  other  word  not 
involving  that  idea. 

The  election  of  presbyters  by  the  churches  would  not  have  been 
so  generally  adopted  or  so  long  maintained,  without  apostolic  prece- 
dent, considering  the  early  and  rapid  growth  of  clerical  power  and 
pretension. 

The  congregational  election  of  presbyters  is  in  accordance  with 
other  congregational  acts  appointed  or  allowed  by  the  apostles. 

^  It  was  the  assembly  of  the  people  which  chose  their  own  rulers 
and  teachers,  or  received  them  by  free  and  authoritative  consent, 
when  recommended  by  others. — Mosheim,  cent.  i.  p.  ii.  c.  ii.  sect.  6. 

'•  No  bishop  was  to  be  obtruded  on  any  orthodox  people  against 
their  consent Sometimes  the  bishops  in  synod  proposed  a  per- 
son, and  the  people  accepted  him ;  sometimes,  again,  the  people  and 
the  bishops  consented If  they  were  divided,  it  was  the  metro- 
politan's care  to  unite  and  fix  them  in  their  choice,  but  not  to  obtrude 
upon  them  an  unchosen  person.  This  we  learn  from  one  of  Leo's 
epistles,  where  he  gives  us,  at  once,  both  the  church's  rule  and 
practice,  and  the  reasons  of  it :  '  In  the  choice  of  a  bishop,'  says  he, 
'  let  him  be  preferred  whom  the  clergy  and  people  do  unanimously 
agree  upon  and  require.  If  they  be  divided  in  their  choice,  then 
let  the  metropolitan  give  preference  to  him  who  has  most  votes  and 
most  merits ;  always  provided  that  no  one  be  ordained  against 
the  will  and  desire  of  the  people,  lest  they  contemn  or  hate  their 
bishop,  and  become  irreligious  or  disrespectful,  when  they  can  not 
have  him  whom  they  desired.'  " — Binghani's  Antiquities,  book  iv. 
chap.  ii.  sect.  4. 

St.  Jerome  says  expressly,  that  presbyters  and  the  other  clergy 
were  as  much  chosen  by  the  people  as  the  bishops  were.  And 
Possidius  notes  this  to  have  been  both  the  custom  of  the  church,  and 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  141 

popular  predilections — all  acknowledge  this  to  be  the  fact. 
Hence  congregational  election  became  the  principle  of  all 

St.  Austin's  practice,  in  the  ordinations  of  priests  and  clerks,  to  have 
regard  to  the  majority,  or  general  consent,  of  Christian  people. 
And  Servicius,  who  speaks  the  sense  and  practice  of  the  Roman 
Church,  says,  that  when  a  deacon  was  to  be  ordained  either  presby- 
ter or  bishop,  he  was  first  to  be  chosen  both  by  the  clergy  and 
people. — Ibid.  sect.  10. 

In  the  earliest  government  of  the  first  Christian  society,  that  of 
Jerusalem,  not  the  elders  only,  but  the  whole  church,  were  associ- 
ated with  the  apostles,  Acts  xv.  2,  4,  22,  23,  &c. — Dean  Wadding- 
ton.  Hist,  of  the  Church,  chap.  ii.  p.  20. 

Of  most  of  the  apostolical  churches  the  first  bishops  were  appointed 
by  the  apostles  :  of  those  not  apostolical,  the  first  presidents  were 
probably  the  missionaries  who  founded  them ;  but  on  their  death  the 
choice  of  a  successor  devolved  on  the  members  of  the  society.  In 
this  election  the  people  had  an  equal  share  with  the  presbyters  and 
inferior  clergy,  without  exception  or  distinction ;  and  it  is  clear  that 
their  right  in  this  matter  was  not  bai-ely  testimonial,  but  judicial 
and  elective. — Ibid.  p.  23. 

There  were  some  variations  in  the  mode  of  election  accoi'ding  to 
times  and  circumstances,  since  no  rule  is  laid  down  in  Scriptui-e  on 
the  .subject ;  but  there  is  a  great  concurrence  of  evidence  to  show 
that  no  bishop  was  ever  obtruded  on  an  orthodox  people  against 
their  con.sent. — Ibid.  Note. 

II  modo  dell'  elegere  i  ministri,  fu  come  si  e  detto  di  sopra, 
instituito  dalli  santi  apostoli,  che  li  vescovi,  preti,  e  altri  ministri 
della  parola  di  Dio,  e  li  Diaconi  ministri  delle  cose  temporali, 
fossero  eletti  de  tutta  I'Universita  de'  fedeli. — Paolo  Sarpi,  Trattato 
de  la  Materie  Beneficiarc.     Opere,  vol.  iii.  p.  27. 

Habemus  ergo  esse  banc,  ex  verbo  Dei,  legitimam  ministri 
vocationera,  ubi,  ex  populi  consensu  et  approbatione,  creantur,  qui 
visi  fuerint  idonei. — Calv.  Inst.  lib.  iv.  chap.  iv.  sect.  15. 

Iterum  repeto  quod  antea  dixi,  nunquam  receptum  fuisse  in 
Christianis  ecclesiis  jam  constitutis,  ut  quis  admitteretur  ad  func- 
tionem  ecclesiasticam  nisi  libere  et  legitime  electus  ab  ecclesia 
cujus  intererat. 

Quid  igitur  spectarunt  apostoli  quum  pastores  et  diaconos  con- 
stituerint  in  ecclesiis  quas  aedificabant?  hoc  nimirum,  ut  qui 
elegebantur  essent,  quoad  ejus  fieri  posset  uveTriXrjTTToi,  et  invito 
gregi  non  obtruderentur. 

Tum  ergo  ne  in  aedificatis  quidem  ecclesiis  erunt  omnia  sufTragiis 
multitudinis  committenda,  neque  tamen  absque  totius  ecclesiae 
consensu  deligendi  fuerint  pastores. — Beza,  Confessio  Fidei,  cap. 
iv.  sect.  135. 

Pour  ce  qui  est  du  choix  des  functionnaires  ecclesiastiques,  il  e.st 
Evident  que  les  premiers  diacres,  et  les  delegues  qui  accompagnaient 


142   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

the  Calvinistic  and  Presbyterian  churches.  It  was  recog- 
nized in  the  Saxon,  Helvetic,  and  Belgian  confessions  ;  and 

les  apotres  avaient  ete  choisis  dans  le  sein  des  eglises  qui  leur 
avoient  donne  leurs  pouvoirs.  2  Cor.  viii.  19.  On  pourrait  con- 
clure  de  plusieurs  exemples,  qu'on  en  agissait  de  meme  poux 
rinstitution  des  presbyters. — Neander^  Histoire  de  V  Etablissement 
de  VEglise,  vol.  i.  p.  130. 

Qui  est  ce  qui  nomme  les  pasteurs  d'une  eglise  ?  Bien  que  la 
parole  ne  dise  pas  expresseraent  que  chaque  eglise  se  choisisse  les 
conducteurs,  il  est  cependant  assez  naturel  de  le  conclure  de  certains 
passages.  Si,  par  exemple,  de  simples  freres  furent  appeles  a 
choisir  deux  candidats  pour  la  charge  d'apotre,  a  plus  forte  raison 
peuvent  ils  nommer  un  pasteur. — Acts  i.  15—16. 

Acts  xiv.  23;   2  Cor.  viii.  19.      Semblerait  etablir  la  nomination 

des   pasteurs    des  eglises Quoi-qu'il   en   soit   a   cet    egard, 

imposer  comme  de  force  a  une  eglise  un  pasteur,  ou  meme  un 
diacre,  serait  assurement  manifester  un  esprit,  bien  different  de  celui 
des  apotres.  Acts  i.  6,  Qui  requiraient  I'assistance  et  le  concours 
des  eglises  dans  des  choses  ou,  selon  nos  idees,  ils  am-aient  pu  ne  le 
point  faire — Bost^  Essai  sur  la  Nature  des  Eglises,  &c.  p.  41. 

Now  when  that  power  (of  order)  so  received  is  once  to  have  any 
certain  subject  whereon  it  may  work,  and  whereunto  it  is  to  be 
tried,  here  cometh  in  the  people's  consent  and  not  before.  The 
power  of  order  I  may  lawfully  receive  without  asking  leave  of  any  mul- 
titude ;  but  that  power  I  can  not  exercise  upon  any  one  certain  people 
utterly  against  their  wills.  Neither  is  there  in  the  Church  of  England 
any  man,  by  order  of  law,  possessed  with  pastoral  charge  over  any 
parish,  but  the  people,  in  effect,  do  choose  him  thereunto.  For,  albeit, 
they  choose  not  by  giving  every  man  personally  his  particular  voice, 
yet  can  they  not  say  that  they  have  their  pastors  violently  obtruded 
on  them,  &c.,  &c. — Hooker,  Polity,  book  vii.  sect.  14. 

Ministri  ipsi  erant delecti  ut  plurimum  ex  ccetibus  ipsis, 

magno   sane   rei   sacrae    adjumento   ecclesiarum   commodo 

Quae  quidem  singula  tam  aperta  sunt  e  sacris  Uteris,  et  primeva 
historia,  ut  probatione  ulteriori  non  indigeant. —  Weismann,  Historia 
Ecclesiastica.     Halle,  1745,  p.  96. 

Therefore  to  avoid  all  such  unlearned  and  unapt  persons,  the 
custom  in  times  past  of  choosing  ministers  is  greatly  to  be  com- 
mended, which  was  this.  The  whole  parish,  or  the  better  part  of 
them,  where  a  pastor  was  wanted,  assembled  themselves  together 
certain  days  before  the  election,  and  conferred  of  the  appointment 
of  a  new  minister.  The  names  of  certain  honest,  grave,  godly, 
wise,  sober,  zealous,  constant,  and  learned  men,  were  prefixed,  and 
set  up  in  some  notable  place  of  the  city  or  town,  with  a  schedule  or 
writing,  to  declare  that  the  men,  whose  names  were  there  entitled, 
were  appointed,  on  such  a  day,  to  be  chosen  ministers  of  the  con- 
gregation of  God  :  again,  that  if  any  man  did  know  any  fault  or 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  143 

the  French  churches  embodied  it  in  one  of  their  canons  of 
discipHne.^ 

notable  imperfection  in  them,  concerning  either  their  doctrine,  or 
life,  they  should,  on  such  day,  be  present,  and  object  what  they 
lawfully  could.  If  no  worthy  objection  at  the  day  appointed  were 
made,  then  did  the  election  proceed.  But  before  the  election,  the 
parish  being  gathered  together  in  the  name  of  Christ,  they  gave 
themselves  to  fasting  and  prayer ;  and  a  sermon  made,  concerning 
both  the  office  of  the  pastor  and  the  duty  of  the  parishioners,  some 
other  minister  or  ministers,  with  certain  elders  of  that  congregation, 
laid  their  hands  upon  the  new  chosen  minister,  wishing  unto  him 

the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  fruits  of  the  same That  this  was 

the  custom  in  times  past,  divers  ancient  writings  of  the  most  ancient 
writers  abundantly  testify.  St.  Cyprian,  an  ancient  Latin  writer, 
saith,  "  The  common  people  themselves  have,  before  all  other,  power 
either  to  choose  worthy  priests,  or  to  refuse  the  unworthy.  Which 
thing  we  see  to  have  the  beginning  of  God's  authority,  that  the  priest, 
in  the  presence  of  the  people,  should  openly,  and  in  every  man's  sight, 
be  chosen,  and  allowed  to  be  worthy  and  meet,  by  the  public  judg- 
ment and  open  testimony." — Becon's  Works.  Edition  of  Parker 
Society,  p.  7. 

Propter  quod  plebs  obsequens  prneceptis'dominicis,  et  Deura  me- 
tnens,  a  peccatore  praeposito  separare  se  debet,  nee  se  ad  sacrilegi 
sacerdotis  sacrificia  miscere  ;  quando  ipsa  maxime  habeat  potestatera 
vel  eligendi  dignos  sacerdotes,  vel  indignos  recusandi.  Quod  et  ipsum 
videmus,  ut  .sacerdos,  plebe  praesente,  sub  omnium  oculis  deligatur, 
et  dignus  atque  idoneus  publico  judicio  ae  testimonio  comprobetur. — 
Cyprian.  Op.  Oxon.  1682.     Epist.  67,  in  note,  p.  7  ;   Bccon^s  Works. 

Electio  ordinarie  facta  est  ab  apostolis,  aut  eorum  delegatis  (Tit. 
i.  5) ;  sed  praesenti,  adplaudenti  subinde  postulante,  populo  ecclesiam 
constituente,  quippe  penes  quem  jus  electionis  erat ;  Acts  xiv.  23  ; 
Ubi  verbum  x^i-poTovelv  denotat  per  sufTragia,  quae  protensis  manibus 
dari  solebant,  eligere  ;  uti  2  Cor.  viii.  19. — Venema,  Historia  Eccle- 
sicB,  torn.  iii.  p.  202. 

^  Vocentur  et  eligantur,  electione  ecclesiastica  et  legitima,  min- 
istri  ecclesiae  ;  id  est,  eligantur  religiose  ab  ecclesia,  vel  ad  hoc 
deputatis  ab  ecclesia,  etc. — Sylloge  Confessionum,  p.  68.  Confessio 
Helvetica,  sect,  xviii. 

Filius  Dei  est  summus  sacerdos,  unctus  ab  aeterno  Patre,  qui  ut 
non  funditus  intereat  ecclesia,  ministros  evangelii  ei  attribuit,  partim 
a  se  immediate  vocatos,  ut  prophetas  et  apostolos,  partim  vocationo 
humana  electos.  Nam  et  ecclesiae  electionem  approbat,  et  immensa 
bonitate  efficax  est,  etiam  sonante  evangelic  per  electos  sufTragiis 
aut  nomine  ecclesiae. — lb.  p.  276.      Confessio  Saxonica,  sect.  xii. 

Credimus  ministros,  seniores,  et  diaconos  debere  ad  functiones 
illas  suas  vocari  et  promoveri  legitima  ecclesiae  electione,  &c.— 
Jb.  p.  347.      Confessio  Belgica,  sect.  xxxi. 


144  THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

No  less  than  their  brethren  on  the  Continent,  the  Scotch 
reformers  adopted  the  same  principle  ;  and  in  the  "  First 
Book  of  Discipline,"  drawn  up  by  John  Knox,  Spottiswood, 
Douglass,  and  others,  in  the  year  1560,  and  then  ''sub- 
scribed by  the  kirk  and  the  lords,"  we  find  these  words  : 
"  It  appertaineth  to  the  people  and  to  every  several  con- 
gregation to  elect  their  minister Altogether  this  is 

He  whose  election  shall  be  declared  unto  the  church  shall  preach 

publicly  the  word  of  God  on  three  successive  Sabbaths ; the 

people's  silence  shall  be  taken  for  a  full  consent.  But  in  case  con- 
tention should  arise,  and  the  afoi-enamed  elect  should  be  pleasing  to 
the  consistory,  but  not  unto  the  people,  or  to  the  major  part  of  them, 
his  reception  shall  be  deferred,  and  the  whole  shall  be  remitted  unto 

the  Colloquy  or  Provincial  Synod ; and  although  the  said 

elect  should  be  then  and  there  justified,  yet  shall  he  not  be  given  as 
pastor  unto  that  people  against  their  will,  nor  to  the  discontentment 
of  the  greatest  part  of  them. — Discipline  of  the  Reformed  Churches 
of  France,  chap.  i.  canon  6.      Quick's  Synodicon,  p.  xvii. 

Vous  voyez,  en  second  lieu,  comme  les  apotres  ont  defere  a 
feglise  le  droit  de  creer  ses  propres  ofRciers,  comme  ils  lavoient 
pratique  lors  qu'il  fut  question  de  subroger  un  apotre  a  Judas ;  car 
ils  le  proposerent  a  Fassemblee  laquelle  en  choisit  deux,  Joseph  et 
Matthias,  entre  lesquels  on  jeta  le  sort,  afin  que  Jesus  Christ  de- 
clarat  lui  meme  du  ciel,  lequel  le  deux  lui  etoit  le  plus  agreable,  et 
qu'ainsi  celui-la  tint  sa  vocation  immediatement  de  lui,  ce  qui  etoit 
une  condition  necessaire  a  la  charge  d'apotre.  De  celle  des  diacres 
il  n' etoit  pas  de  meme,  et  ainsi  il  n' etoit  pas  necessaire  d'y  employer 
le  sort ;  c'est  pourquoi  le  chose  fut  simplement  remise  au  choix  de 
fassemblee.  Et  ainsi  s'est  il  observe  en  f ancienne  eglise  en  felec- 
tion  des  pasteurs,  comme  nous  le  voyons  en  Saint  Cyprien,  et  en 
une  infinite  des  passages  des  autres  anciens.  Mais  aux  siecles 
suivans  les  eveques  de  Rome  ont  ote  ce  droit  au  peuple  Chretien, 
et  se  le  sont  reserve  a  eux  seuls ;  convertissans  le  ministere  en  une 
domination  monarchique.  Pour  nous  nous  avons  ramene  I'ancien 
ordre,  et  restitue  a  f  eglise  de  droit  qui  lui  appartenoit.  Car  encore 
qu"en  f  election  d'un  pasteur  nous  n'assemblions  pas  toute  une  eglise 
pour  recueillir  les  suffrages  de  tous  les  fideles  qui  la  composent,  en 
quoi  il  y  auroit  du  desordre  et  divers  inconvenients,  neanmoins  on 
procede  a  son  election,  dans  un  synode  compose  des  pasteurs  et 
anciens,  qui  sont  deputes  de  toutcs  les  eglises  de  la  province,  et  qui 
les  representent.  La  on  voit  les  temoignages  qu'il  a  de  sa  vie,  et 
puis  on  Texamine  sur  la  doctrine,  et  sur  la  dexterite  qu'il  a  a  de- 
tainer la  parole  de  Dieu ;  apres  quoi  on  le  propose  a  1' eglise  pour  y 
etre  vu  et  oiii ;  et  si  elle  I'approuve  et  f  agree,  on  le  lui  donne  pour 
pasteur,  avec  priere  et  imposition  des  mains. — Le  Faucheur.  Ser- 
mon sur  Actes  vi.  1-6. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  145 

to  be  avoided,  that  any  man  be  violently  intruded  or  thrust 
in  on  any  congregation  ;  but  this  liberty,  with  all  care, 
must  be  reserved  to  every  several  church,  to  have  their 
votes  and  suffrages  in  the  election  of  their  ministers."  ^ 
The  "  Second  Book  of  Discipline,"  which  was  agreed  upon 
in  the  general  assemblies  of  1577  and  of  1578,  which  con- 
tains the  present  discipline  of  the  Scotch  Establishment, 
has  the  following  maxims  :  "  Election  is  the  choosing  out 
of  a  person,  or  persons,  most  habile  (suited)  to  the  office 
which  vaikes  (is  vacant)  by  the  judgment  of  the  eldership 
and  consent  of  the  congregation  to  whom  the  person,  or 

persons,  is  to  be  appointed In  this  ordinary  election 

it  is  to  be  eschewed  that  no  person  be  intruded  in  any  of 
the  offices  of  the  kirk  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  congrega- 
tion -to  whom  they  are  appointed The  liberty  of  elec- 
tion of  persons  called  to  ecclesiastical  functions  and  observed 
without  interruption,  so  long  as  the  kirk  was  not  corrupted 
by  anti-Christ,  we  desire  to  be  restored  and  to  be  retained 
within  this  realm."  ^ 

By  this  scriptural  evidence,  and  this  concurrence  of 
authorities,  we  must  conclude  it  to  be  our  Lord's  will  that 
each  congregation  should  refuse  an  ungodly  pastor,  and, 
therefore,  should  carefully  make  choice  of  a  pastor  possessed 
of  the  qualifications  which  are  required  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. But  by  the  union  the  churches  have  transferred 
this  whole  duty  to  others,  without  any  authority  from 
Christ. 

Few  things  can  exercise  a  more  powerful  influence  on 
the  spiritual  character  of  the  Establishment  than  the  num- 
ber and  the  character  of  its  bishops.  But  it  has  no  right 
or  power  to  determine  either.  The  Establishment  can  not 
determine  their  number,  the  extent  of  their  jurisdiction,  or 
the  number  of  churches  placed  under  their  control.  Al- 
though this  is  a  matter  purely  spiritual,  it  can  be  deter- 
mined by  Parliament  alone.  The  6th  and  7th  Will.  IV. 
cap.  77,  has  created  two  new  bishoprics,  and  has  remodeled 
the  state  of  the  old  dioceses,  with  a  view  to  a  more  equal 

^  First  Book  of  Discipline,  chap.  iv.  sect.  1 . 

*  Second  Book  of  Discipline,  chap.  iii.  sect.  4,  5  ;  chap.  xii.  .sect.  9. 

G 


146    THE  UNIOxN  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

distribution  of  episcopal  duties.  Parliament  alone  can  de- 
termine how  many  successors  of  apostles  there  shall  be,  to 
distribute,  as  some  suppose,  spiritual  gifts  to  the  churches. 

The  character  of  the  bishops  is  still  more  important  to 
the  Establishment  than  their  numbers.  The  bishop  has 
immense  authority  in  his  diocese.  As  no  one  may  preach 
within  it  without  his  license,  and  he  can  grant  or  refuse  his 
license,  continue  or  withdraw  it  at  his  pleasure,  curates 
are  entirely  under  his  power.  Over  incumbents,  too,  he 
exercises  a  vast  influence,  not  only  by  force  of  law,  but  partly 
from  the  large  patronage  placed  at  his  disposal,  and  partly 
from  the  wide-spread  notion  that  his  mandates  ought  to  be 
obeyed  in  all  things  not  positively  sinful.  For  some  centu- 
ries the  diocesans  were  elected  by  the  ministers  and  people ; 
but  in  England  the  churches  have  left  this  important  duty, 
which  is  exclusively  spiritual,  and  which  vitally  affects  the 
progress  of  religion  in  the  country,  to  be  fulfilled,  for  good 
or  for  evil,  by  the  State.  In  Ireland  the  bishoprics  are 
donative  by  letters  patent ;  the  patronage  of  the  Welsh 
bishoprics  is  annexed  to  the  Crown.  In  England,  by  25 
Hen.  VIII.  cap.  20,  the  king  grants  a  license  to  the  dean 
and  chapter — a  very  unfit  body — to  elect,  but  at  the  same 
time  nominates  the  person  to  be  elected ;  and  if  the  dean 
and  chapter  do  not  proceed  to  elect  that  person  within 
twenty  days,  each  offender  incurs  a  'prcRmunire.  The 
punishment  by  the  writ  o{ prcemunire^  is,  "That  from  the 
conviction  the  defendant  shall  be  out  of  the  king's  protec- 
tion ;  his  lands  and  tenements,  goods  and  chattels,  forfeited 
to  the  king  ;  and  that  his  body  shall  remain  in  prison  at 
the  king's  pleasure."  ^  The  consecration  of  a  prelate  is 
supposed  by  many  to  constitute  him  a  successor  of  the 
apostles,  with  exclusive  authority  to  ordain  pastors  for  the 
churches,  and  with  the  power  of  communicating  spiritual 
gifts.  Hence,  at  the  ordination  of  a  presbyter,  the  bishop, 
in  imitation  of  Christ,  who,  when  he  ordained  the  apostles, 
breathed  on  them,  and  said,  "  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Gfwst  ; 
whosesoever  sins  ye  remit  they  are  remitted  to  them''  lay- 
ing his  hands  on  the  head  of  the  candidate  kneeling  before 

*  Burn,  vol.  i  pp.  202,  203.      =  Encyc.  Brit.  art.  "  Praemunire." 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  147 

him,  says,  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  office  and 
work  of  a  priest,  now  committed  to  thee  by  the  imposition 
of  our  hands.  Whose  sins  thou  dost  forgive,  they  are  for- 
given ;  and  whose  sins  thou  dost  retain,  they  are  retained." 
The  persons  to  receive  this  awful  authority  are  exclusively 
selected  by  the  ministers  of  the  crown,  by  prime-ministers 
and  chancellors.  Chancellors  and  premiers  determine 
alone  the  line  along  which  the  apostolic  influence  is  to 
descend  from  generation  to  generation,  and  the  sources 
from  which  ordination-grace,  and  pastoral  authority,  are 
to  be  transmitted  to  the  churches. 

The  relation  between  the  pastor  and  the  church  is  much 
more  close  than  that  between  the  prelate  and  his  clergy  ;  and 
it  being  of  great  consequence  to  the  welfare  of  the  church 
that  the  numbers  under  the  care  of  one  pastor  should  not 
be  beyond  his  superintendence,  the  churches  should  have 
the  unrestricted  right  of  securing  to  themselves  as  many 
pastors  as  they  may  require.  But, the  State  alone  deter- 
mines for  the  Establishment  the  number  of  pastors  as  well 
as  the  number  of  bishops.  Great  civic  parishes  grow  up 
to  be  each  a  city,  the  union  gives  the  monopoly  of  instruc- 
tion to  the  incumbent.  Huge  masses  remain  unvisited  and 
untaught,  but  the  untaught  thousands  have  no  right  of 
choosing  for  themselves  pastors  whom  they  may  trust. 
Church-building  acts  of  Parliament  alone  could  tardily  and 
imperfectly  untie  their  hands.  Although  the  office  of  a 
pastor  is  purely  spiritual,  the  inhabitants  of  St.  George's, 
Westminster,  Marylebone,  St.  Pancras,  St.  Luke's,  Shore- 
ditch,  and  other  vast  populations,  can  not,  without  author- 
ity of  Parliament,  provide  for  their  spiritual  wants,  nor 
multiply  their  pastors  without  leave  from  the  State. 

The  State,  likewise,  has  settled  for  all  the  churches  of 
the  Establishment  who  shall  be  their  pastors.  The  choice 
of  right  men  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  their  welfare. 
It  is  their  sacred  and  inalienable  duty  to  choose  right  men. 
The  primitive  church  at  Jerusalem  chose  even  an  apostle.^ 
Ministers,  too,  were  chosen  by  the  whole  church.^  For 
some  centuries  all  the  Christian  churches  chose  their  own 

1  Acts  i.  '  Acts  vi. 


148  THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

pastors  ;  to  this  day,  in  Scotland,  the  people  must  give  "a 
call"  before  the  pastor  can  be  settled  over  them;  and  near- 
ly half  the  ministers  of  the  Scotch  Establishment  lately 
separated  themselves  from  the  State,  because  the  State 
would  not  permit  them  to  give  their  churches  the  right  of 
a  veto  in  the  appointment  of  their  pastors.  But  the 
churches  in  England  united  with  the  State  have  no  voice 
in  the  selection  of  their  pastors.  Although,  by  Christ's 
law,  none  but  faithful  men  are  to  be  made  pastors,  and  the 
churches  are  forbidden  to  receive  any  others,  yet  they  allow 
any  man  to  be  forced  upon  them  whom  the  State  pro- 
nounces to  be  respectable.  The  patron  alone  presents  any 
one  whom  he  pleases  out  of  the  fifteen  thousand  clergy  of 
Great  Britain,  though  notoriously  frivolous  or  unevangeli- 
cal,  though  suspected  even  of  immorality  ;  and  the  bishop 
can  institute  no  other  to  be  the  pastor.  If  the  bishop 
refuses  to  admit  the  patron's  presentee  within  twenty-eight 
days,  he  is  liable  to  a  duplex  querela  in  the  ecclesiastical 
courts,  and  to  a  quare  iinpedit  at  common  law.^  "  The 
patron  is  entitled  to  call  upon  the  ordinary  to  institute  his 
clerk,  and  to  enforce  that  right  by  quare  impedit,  unless 
the  bishop  specially  states  in  his  plea  some  reasonable  cause 
wherefore  the  clerk  presented  is  not  fit."  ^  The  only  "  rea- 
sonable cause"  is  legal  proof  of  incapacity,  heresy,  or  im- 
morality. Want  of  spirituality,  indolence,  ill-temper,  semi- 
papal  attachment  to  ceremonies,  the  preaching  of  baptismal 
regeneration,  the  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
grace  through  faith,  and  an  undevout  life,  proving  an  un- 
converted heart,  are  not,  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  reasonable 
causes.  And  thus,  contrary  to  the  law  of  Christ,  to  apos- 
tolic precedent,  to  the  practice  of  the  first  three  centuries 
of  the  Christian  era,  and  to  common  sense,  the  churches,  for 
the  sake  of  the  State-pay,  allow  imgodly  pastors  to  be  forced 
upon  them  by  ungodly  patrons  through  the  fiat  of  the  State. 

Thus  the  union  has  given  the  State  power  to  determine 
the  number  of  prelates  and  pastors,  and  likewise  to  select 
the  men  ;  and  the  churches,  for  the  sake  of  their  endow- 
ments, have  abandoned  their  solemn  duty  to  admit  to  be 

'  Burn,  vol.  i.  p.  156.  *»  lb.  i.  156,  cf. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  149 

their  pastors  none  but  godly  men  who  possess  the  qualifica- 
tions for  that  office  pointed  out  in  the  word  of  God. 

2.  The  State  pronounces  on  the  doctrine  to  be  taught 
in  the  Establishment. 

Individual  Christians,  and  therefore  churches,  are  called 
to  maintain  all  the  truth,  to  stand  fast  in  the  faith,  to 
contend  for  the  faith,  and  to  grow  in  knowledge.^  Each 
church  ought  to  be  "  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth."  ^ 
Pastors  and  people  together  are  "  to  hold  forth  the  word  of 
life  ;"  ^  and  "  together  to  strive  for  the  faith  of  the  Gospel."  ^ 
But  the  Establishment  is  forbidden  by  the  State  to  correct 
any  error,  or  to  make  any  advance  in  spiritual  knowledge  : 
and  so  it  becomes  the  pillar  and  ground  of  error  as  well  as 
truth,  and  holds  forth  not  only  the  word  of  Hfe,  but  doc- 
trines contrary  to  that  word.  Two  or  three  illustrations 
must  here  suffice.  The  baptismal  services  and  the  cate- 
chism contain  the  doctrine  that  infants  are  regenerated  by 
the  rite  of  baptism — a  dogma  which,  as  being  contrary  to 
Scripture  and  to  fact,  the  churches  ought  to  repudiate. 
The  twenty-sixth  article  declares  of  "  evil"  ministers  who 
"  have  chief  authority  in  the  ministration  of  the  word  and 
sacraments,"  "  Forasmuch  as  they  do  not  the  same  in  their 
own  name,  but  in  Christ's,  and  do  minister  by  his  com- 
mission and  authority,  %ve  may  use  their  7ninistry  both  in 
hearing  the  word  of  God  and  in  the  receiving  of  the  sacra- 
ments." This  is  directly  contrary  to  Scripture,  which  for- 
bids such  men  to  be  made  pastors,^  declares  that  Christ 
knows  them  not,^  requires  that  they  be  excommunicated,' 
and  forbids  Christians  to  listen  to  them.^  The  Establish- 
ment ought  to  correct  this  error.  In  the  service  for  order- 
ing the  priests,  the  bishop,  placing  his  hands  on  the  head 
of  the  kneeling  candidate,  is  ordered  by  the  State,  through 
its  act  of  uniformity,  to  say,  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost  for 
the  office  and  work  of  a  priest  in  the  church  of  God,  now 
committed  unto  thee  by  the  imposition  of  our  hands.   Whose 

1  ICor.xvi.  13;   Jude  3  ;   2Pet.  iii.  18.  ^  ITim.iii.  15. 

3  Phil.  ii.  16.  "  Phil.  i.  27. 

»  1  Tim.  iii.  1-7  ;  Tit.  i.  5-9.  «  Matt.  vii.  22,  23. 

^  Gal.  V.  12.  8  Matt.  vU.  15}  John  x.  5;  2  John  10,  11. 


150    THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

sins  thou  dost  forgive,  they  are  forgiven  ;  and  whose  sins 
thou  dost  retain,  they  are  retained."  Nearly  in  these 
words  did  Jesus  Christ  convey  the  Holy  Spirit  to  his 
apostles  ;  ^  vv^hich  fact  Bishop  Wilberforce  has  thus  noticed, 
"  The  same  words  are  to  be  spoken  to-day  as  those  which 
broke  of  old  the  silence  of  that  chamber  where  the  risen 
Lord  stood  beside  the  amazed  eleven ;  and  when  he  had 
shown  them  his  hands  and  his  side,  breathed  on  them,  and 
said,  *  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost :  ivhosesoever  sins  ye 
remit,  they  are  remitted  to  them  ;  and  ivhosesocver  sins  ye 
retain,  they  are  retained.'  These  same  words  are  again 
to-day  to  be  spoken  as  in  his  name,  and  as  if  he  were 
'present  with  us.  And  all  this  is  the  most  blasphemous 
FRWOLiTY,  if  it  be  not  the  deepest  truth."  ^  This  "  blas- 
phemous frivolity"  ought  to  be  removed.  The  thirty-sixth 
article  declares  :  "  The  book  of  ordering  of  priests  doth 
contain,  &c.  .  .  .  Neither  hath  it  any  thing  that  of  itself 
is  superstitious  and  ungodly."  This  is  surely  erroneous, 
for  to  make  every  bishop  nominated  by  a  minister  of  State 
say  to  all  candidates  lor  the  office  of  presbyter,  "  Receive 
thou  the  Holy  Ghost,"  is  certainly  superstitious  ;  and  if  it 
be  also  a  "  blasphemous  frivolity,"  it  is  ungodly  too.  The 
error  of  the  article  ought,  therefore,  to  be  corrected. 

But  the  State  will  allow  no  correction  of  these  and 
similar  errors  in  the  prayer-book.  The  royal  declaration 
prefixed  to  the  articles  is  as  follows  : — "  The  articles  of  the 
Church  of  England  do  contain  the  true  doctrine  of  the 
Church  of  England,  agreeable  to  God's  word,  which  we  do 
therefore  ratify  and  confirm,  requiring  all  our  living  sub- 
jects to  continue  in  the  uniform  profession  thereof,  and 
prohibiting  the  least  difference  from  the  said  articles."  By 
the  thirty-sixth  canon  every  preacher  of  the  Establishment 
must  declare,  "  That  the  book  of  common  prayer  and  of 
ordering  of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  containeth  in  it 
nothing  contrary  to  the  word  of  God.''  The  fourth  canon 
runs  thus,  "  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm  that  the  form 

1  John  XX.  22. 

'  Sermon  at  the  General  Ordination,  Dec.  21,  1845.  Rivingtons. 
1846.     2d  ed.  p.  24. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  151 

of  God's  worship  .  .  .  contained  in  the  book  of  common 
prayer  .  .  .  containeth  any  thing  in  it  that  is  repugnant  to 
the  Scriptures,  let  him  be  excommunicated  ipso  factor 
The  fifth  canon  adds,  "  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm 
that  any  of  the  nine-and-thirty  articles  .  .  .  are  in  any  part 
.  .  .  erroneous  ...  let  him  be  excommunicated."  These 
canons,  though  not  binding  on  the  laity,  have  the  force  of 
law  to  the  clergy  ;  and  thus  the  State  compels  all  the 
clergy  to  pronounce  those  and  other  errors  to  be  truths. 
And  by  13  Elizabeth,  cap.  12,  s.  2,  "If  any  person  ec- 
clesiastical, or  which  shall  have  ecclesiastical  living,  shall 
advisedly  maintain  or  affirm  any  doctrine  directly  contrary 
or  repugnant  to  any  of  the  said  articles,  and  being  convened 
before  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  or  ordinary,  shall  persist 
therein  and  not  revoke  his  error,  &c.  ...  he  shall  be  de- 
prived of  his  ecclesiastical  promotions."  ^  Thus  the  State 
has  effectually  prevented  clergymen  from  attempting  the 
correction  of  any  errors  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Establish- 
ment ;  and  to  perpetuate  these  errors,  no  assembly  of  the 
Establishment  is  permitted  to  meet,  which  could  revise  the 
articles,  correct  the  liturgy,  or  attempt  any  fuller  profession 
of  evangelical  doctrine. 

3.  The  supremacy  of  the  State  comes  into  collision  with 
the  authority  of  Christ  respecting  the  worship  of  God. 

By  the  law  of  Christ,  Christians  are  to  avoid  those  who 
cause  divisions,  Rom.  xvi.  17,  and  therefore  ought  not  to 
listen  to  any  bigoted  preacher  who  excludes  pious  dissenters 
from  the  church  of  Christ,  falsely  terming  them  schismatics, 
however  peaceable  they  may  be.  By  the  same  law  all 
ministers  who  do  not  preach  the  Gospel,  but  preach  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  and  works,  ought  to  be 
excluded  from  the  church,  Gal.  i.  8  ;  v.  12.  And,  there- 
fore, if  through  neglect  of  discipline  they  remain  still  in  the 
exercise  of  their  ministry.  Christians  must,  according  to 
these  directions,  avoid  them  as  though  they  were  excluded. 
By  the  same  law  Christians  are  carefully  to  abstain  from 
affording  any  sanction  to  ministers  unsound  in  doctrine, 
2  John  10,  11.  But  in  opposition  to  these  laws  of  Christ, 
'  Burn,  vol.  i.  p.  105. 


152  THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

the  State  has  passed  the  following  laws  which  are  still  in 
force.  By  1  Eliz.  cap.  2,  parishioners  are  to  attend  the 
parish  church  every  Sunday  and  holyday,  the  penalty  for 
neglect  being  twelve-pence,  for  which  the  church- wardens 
are  to  distrain.  "  No  person  can  be  duly  discharged  from 
attending  his  own  parish  church  or  warranted  in  resorting 
to  another,  unless  he  be  first  duly  licensed  by  his  ordinary, 
who  is  the  proper  judge  of  the  reasonableness  of  liis  re- 
quest." ^  By  3  James,  cap.  4,  persons  not  attending  com- 
mon prayer  according  to  1  Elizabeth,  cap.  2,  shall  be 
distrained  for  twelve-pence  ;  and  in  default  of  distress  be 
committed  to  prison  till  payment  is  made.  By  23  Eliza- 
beth, cap.  1,  "  Every  person  above  the  age  of  sixteen  years, 
which  shall  not  repair  to  some  church,  chapel,  or  usual 
place  of  common  prayer,  shall  forfeit  to  the  queen  £20  a 
month;"  and  by  31  Geo.  III.  cap.  32,  "All  the  laws 
made  and  provided  for  frequenting  of  divine  service  on  the 
Lord's  day  .  .  .  shall  be  still  in  force,  and  executed  against 
all  persons  who  shall  offend  against  the  said  laws."^ 

It  is  the  will  of  Christ  that  Christians  should  meet  in 
every  suitable  place  for  prayer.  "  I  will,  therefore,"  says 
St.  Paul,  "  that  men  pray  every  where.  "^  It  was  by 
social  prayer  that  the  hundred  and  twenty  disciples  of 
Christ  in  an  upper  chamber  at  Jerusalem  prepared  for  the 
promised  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.^  By  social  prayer  they 
fortified  themselves  against  the  threats  of  their  persecutors.^ 
By  social  prayer  they  sought  the  hberation  of  the  apostle 
Peter  from  prison.^  At  Philippi,  Paul  united  with  devout 
Jews  in  prayer  at  the  river's  side.'^  At  Miletus,  he  prayed 
with  the  pastors  of  Ephesus  ;^  and  at  Tyre  consecrated  the 
sea-shore  to  the  same  sacred  exercise.^  Yet  in  the  face  of 
all  these  instances  of  social  prayer,  the  State  has  enacted, 
by  52  Geo.  III.  cap.  155,  "No  congregation,  or  assembly 
for  religious  worship,  of  Protestants,  at  which  there  shall 
be  present  more  than  twenty  persons,  besides  the  immediate 
family  and  servants  of  the  person  in  whose  house,  or  upon 

1  Burn,  ill.  405.  ^  j^  p  406-4O8.  ^  j  xim.  ii.  8. 

•*  Acts  i.  14.  5  Acts  iv.  23,  24.  ^  Actsxiii.  12. 

'  Acts  xvi.  13-16.  «  Acts  xx.  36.  ^  Acts  xxi.  5. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  153 

whose  premises,  such  meeting,  assembly,  or  congregation, 
should  be  held,  shall  be  permitted  or  allowed,  unless  the 
place  of  such  meeting  shall  have  been  duly  certified  to  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese,  the  archdeacon,  or  the  justices  of  the 
peace."  ^  The  last  provision  of  this  statute  being  limited 
to  dissenters,^  the  state  still  prohibits  members  of  the  Estab- 
lishment from  meeting  for  prayer  in  any  greater  number 
than  twenty,  besides  the  family.  Since  dissenters  may 
now  freely  meet  in  any  numbers,  this  restriction  upon 
social  prayer  is  only  retained  upon  ecclesiastical  grounds, 
on  which  grounds  alone  it  was  advocated  by  the  Bishop  of 
Exeter  and  by  Lord  Brougham  when  it  was  last  brought 
before  the  House  of  Lords,  the  bishop  contending  that  such 
meetings  for  worship  were  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  23d 
article,  and  Lord  Brougham  urging  that  they  would  pre- 
vent parishioners  from  attending  at  the  parish  churches. 

4.  The  State  governs  the  churches  and  regulates  their 
discipline. 

Church  discipline  consists  chiefly  in  regulating  the 
admission  of  persons  to  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  in  inflicting  the  censures  of  the  church  on  its  oflending 
members.  Our  Lord  has  signified  his  will  on  these  points, 
and  has  directed  how  his  will  is  to  be  executed.  The 
power  of  government  is  placed  by  the  authority  of  Christ 
in  the  congregation  itself,  and  can  be  devolved  on  no  one 
else.  The  presbyters  of  each  church  have  by  his  authority 
the  general  superintendence.  Tkey  are  therefore  called 
ETriGKOTTOt,  bishops  or  superintendents,^  and  TTOineveg^  pas- 
tors or  shepherds,^  and  they  are  exhorted  noifjatveLv^  to 
feed  the  church  of  God,  as  a  shepherd  does  his  flock  ;^  and 
St.  Peter  urged  them  to  the  same  duty  thus  :  "  The  elders 
which  are  among  you  I  exhort  ....  Feed  the  flock  of 
God  which  is  among  you,  ETnuKonovvTe^,  taking  the  over- 
sight." ^  And  their  pastoral  office  is  termed  entaKOTTr],  the 
episcopate,  the  superintendence.''     They  are  further  called 

1  Burn,  vol.  ii.  p.  220.  ^  jb. 

3  Acts  XX.  28 ;  Phil.  i.  1 ;   1  Tim.  iii.  2 ;  Tit.  i.  5-7. 

4  Eph.  iv.  11  ;  1  Pet.  v.  4.  ^  Acts  xx.  28 ;  1  Pet.  V.  2. 
6  1  Pet.  V.  1,2.  '1  Tim.  iii.  1- 


154  THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

rulers,  rrpeafivrepoi,  TrpoearioTeg  :  and  St.  Paul  says  to  the 
churches  respecting  them,  "  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule 
over  yoii^  rolg  rjyovixsvoLg  vfjtojv,  and  submit  yourselves^  ^ 
But  while  presbyters  are  thus  called  to  superintend  their 
churches,  the  church  itself,  comprising  both  ministers  and 
congregation,  has  the  ultimate  supreme  power  of  govern- 
ment over  itself.  Thus  all  the  church  united,  as  we  have 
seen,  with  the  eleven  apostles  to  select  the  two  brethren, 
of  which  one  was  to  be  chosen  by  lot  to  fill  the  place  of 
the  apostate  apostle  Judas  ;  the  same  church  chose  their 
deacons  ;  and  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor,  guided  by  Paul 
and  Barnabas,  elected  their  pastors.  Other  churches 
elected  their  messengers,  called  d-nooroXoL  ekkXtjolcov,  who 
accompanied  St.  Paul  to  convey  their  contributions  to 
Jerusalem. 2  When  a  great  doctrinal  dispute  arose  at 
Antioch,  the  congregation  at  Jerusalem  united  with  the 
apostles  and  elders  to  settle  it.^  If  a  dispute  arose  between 
two  Christians,  they  were  to  refer  it  to  the  congregation.^ 
The  church  at  Rome  was  directed  to  avoid  schismatics  ;  ^ 
the  congregation  at  Corinth  was  urged  to  excommunicate 
an  offending  member  ;  ^  and  the  congregation  at  Thessalo- 
nica  was  to  withdraw  from  every  one  who  disregarded  the 
precepts  given  to  them  by  Christ's  apostle. ''^ 

The  churches  being  thus  appointed  by  Christ  to  exercise 
self-government,  which  is  essential  to  their  fidelity,  purity, 
and  vigor,  have  received  also  divine  instructions  respecting 
the  discipline  which  they*are  to  exercise.  Here  let  us  notice 
only  two  main  points,  the  admission  and  the  exclusion  of 
members.  Respecting  the  first,  they  are  instructed  by  our 
Lord  and  his  apostles  to  admit  no  one  into  church-fellow- 
ship by  baptism  except  upon  a  credible  profession  of  repent- 
ance and  faith,  as  we  learn  from  the  following  passages  of 
the  word  of  God  :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth  and 
IS  BAPTIZED  shall  he  saved. ^.  .  .  .  Repent,  and  be  baptized, 

»  Heb.  xiii.  17.  29  Cor.  viii.  19,  23. 

3  Acts  XV.  12-29.  ^  Matt,  xviii.  17;   1  Cor.  vi.  4. 

^  Rom.  xvi.  17.  ^  1  Cor.  v.  11,  13. 

'  2  Thess.  iii.  6,  14.  «  Mark  xvi.  15,  16. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  155 

every  one  of  you,  for  the  remission  of  sins}.  .  .  .  And  the 
eunuch  said,  See,  here  is  water;  what  doth  hinder  me 
to  be  baptized?  And  Philip  said,  If  thou  believest 
WITH  ALL  THY  HEART,  thou  maijest.'''^  BaptisHi  is,  there- 
fore, said  to  be  avveLdrjoecjg  dyadrjg  ETrepcoTrjfia  elg  Qeov, 
the  i?iquiry  of  a  good  conscience  after  God,  the  seeking 
after  God  with  earnest  sincerity.^  The  practice  of  the 
early  churches  agreed  with  these  statements.  "  When 
the\j  (the  inhabitants  of  Samaria)  believed  Philip  preaching 
the  things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  they  icere  baptized.''  ^ 

It  was  when  Paul  had  said,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou 
have  me  do  ?"  had  continued  in  prayer  during  three  days, 
and  had  received  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  he  was  baptized.^ 
Cornelius  and  his  friends  first  received  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
were  then  baptized.*'  Lydia  at  Philippi  was  not  baptized 
till  she  had  first  had  her  heart  opened  by  the  Lord  to  at- 
tend to  the  Gospel. ''^  The  jailer  at  Philippi  and  all  his 
household  were  likewise  baptized  'upon  their  believing.* 
And  the  commencement  of  the  church  at  Corinth  is  thus 
recorded  :  "  Crispus,  the  chief  rider  of  the  synagogue, 
believed  mi  the  Lord  ivith  all  his  house :  and  many 
of  the  Corinthians  hearing  believed,  and  ivere  bap- 
tized.''^ 

It  is,  therefore,  the  will  of  Christ  that  none  but  believ- 
ers shall  be  baptized,  that  the  churches  may  be  associations 
of  "  saints  and  faithful  brethren."  And  if  any  infants  are 
to  be  baptized,  they  must  be  the  infants  of  saints  and  faith- 
ful brethren,  who  heartily  dedicate  them  to  God  through 
Christ,  and  will  train  them  up  for  him. 

But  as  some  ungodly  persons,  like  Simon  of  Samaria, 
will  necessarily  intrude  themselves  into  fellowship  with  the 
churches  through  a  profession  of  faith  without  conversion 
of  heart,  1°  our  Lord  has  further  directed  the  churches  to 
exclude  from  their  fellowship  all  open  offenders  against  the 

^  Acts  ii.  38.  ^  Acts  viii.  36,  37.  ^  1  Pet.  iii.  21. 

^  Actsviii.  12.  ^  Acts ix.  6,  11,  17, 18.  «  Acts x.  44-48. 

'  Acts  xvi.  1 4,  1 5.  «  Acts  xvi.  31-34.  ^  Acts  xviu.  8. 
^  Acts  viii.  13-23. 


156   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

law  of  God.      The  following  are  some  of  the  directions 
which  we  have  received  upon  this  subject : — 

"  Be  ye  not  U7iequally  yoked  together  with  UTihelievers : 
for  icJiat  felloivship  hath  righteoitsness  ivith  unrighteous- 
?iess  ?  mid  ivJuit  communion  hath  light  with  darkness  ? 
and  ivliat  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial  ?  or  ivhat  part 
liath  he  that  helieveth  with  an  infidel  ?  Wherefore  come 
out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord} 
....  J  tvould  they  were  even  cut  off  which  trouble  youT  ^ 
It  is,  therefore,  the  will  of  Christ  that  the  churches  should 
not  allow  unbelievers  to  come  to  his  table. 

"  /  have  writte7i  unto  you  not  to  keep  company,  if  any 
Tiian  that  is  called  a  brother  be  a  fornicator,  or  covetous, 
or  an  idolater,  or  a  railer,  or  a  drunkard,  or  an  extor- 
tioner ;  with  such  an  one  no  not  to  eat.  Therefore  put 
away  from  among  yourselves  tJiat  tvicked  persoyi.^.  ...  J 
have  a  few  things  against  thee,  because  thou  hast  there 
them  tliat  hold  the  doctrine  of  Balaam,  %vho  taught  Balak 
to  cast  a  stmnbling'block  before  the  children  of  Israel,  to 
eat  things  sacrificed  unto  idols,  and  to  commit  fornication. 
So  hast  tJwu,  also,  them  that  hold  the  doctrine  of  the 
Nicolaitanes,  tvhich  thing  I  hate.'' ^  It  is  the  will  of 
Christ  that  all  immoral  persons  should  be  refused  admission 
to  the  table  of  the  Lord,  and  be  put  out  of  communion  with 
the  church. 

"  Noiv,  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  mark  them  which  cause 
divisions  and  offenses  contrary  to  the  doctrine  which  ye 
have  learned,  and  avoid  them.^.  .  .  .  A  man  that  is  a 
heretic  after  the  first  and  second  admonition  reject.'"^ 
It  is  the  will  of  Christ  that  quarrelsome  and  factious  per- 
sons be  excluded  from  t'he  Lord's  table. 

"  If  thy  brother  trespass  against  thee,  go,  Sfc,  .  .  .  but 

if  he  sliall  neglect  to  hear  the  church,  let  him  be  to  thee  as 

1  2  Cor.  vi.  14,  15.  ^  q^j  ^   jg.  3  ^  q^^  ^   jj^  jg 

*  Rev.  ii.  14,  15.  »  Rom.  xvi.  l"7. 

^  Tit.  ill.  10.     AipsTLKov  uvOpcmov  .  .  .  irapatrov.     "AlperiKog,  one 

who  creates  dissensions,  introduces  errors,  &C.5  a  factious  person." 

— Robinson's  Lex.  of  the  N.  T.     "  Sectarius,  qui  praecepta  et  mores 

sequitur  a  praeeeptis  institutisque  Christi  alienissimos."— Schleus- 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  157 

a  heathen  man  and  a  publican}.  .  .  .  Now  ice  command 
you,  brethren,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye 
ivithdraiv  yourselves  from  every  brother  tJiat  walketh  dis- 
orderly, and  not  after  the  tradition  which  ye  received  of 
us.  And  if  any  man  obey  not  our  %vord  by  this  ejnstle, 
note  tliat  man,  a^id  have  no  company  ivith  him,  that  he 
may  be  ashamed.''^  It  is  the  will  of  Christ  that  all 
persons  who  offend  in  any  way  against  his  law,  and  do 
not  repent  of  it,  should  be  excluded  from  fellowship  with 
the  church,  and  therefore  from  the  Lord's  table. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  the  will  of  Christ  that 
all  the  Christians  of  any  place  should  have  fellowship  with 
each  other  as  brethren  ;  and  as  he  has  invited  all  believers 
to  his  table  (1  Cor.  xi.  23,  25),  no  church  has  a  right  to 
exclude  any  of  his  invited  guests.  Whatever  their  doc- 
trinal or  practical  differences,  all  real  believers,  received  by 
Christ,  are  bound  to  receive  each  another.  "  One  is  your 
master,  even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren."^.  .  .  .  Him 
that  is  weak  in  the  faith  receive  ye*.'*.  .  .  .  Wherefore  re- 
ceive ye  one  another,  as  Christ  also  received  us,  to  the 
glory  of  God'' ^ 

Christian  churches  can  not,  therefore,  abandon  this  duty 
of  self-government,  nor  allow  any  dictation  from  others 
respecting  the  admission  or  exclusion  of  members,  without 
palpable  disregard  to  the  will  of  Christ.  But  the  Anglican 
churches  have  done  both  these  things.  First,  how  does 
any  congregation  of  the  Establishment  govern  itself  ?  The 
church  has  no  voice  whatever  in  the  admission  or  exclusion 
of  members  ;  it  holds  no  meetings  for  brotherly  communion, 
for  consultation  respecting  its  spiritual  improvement,  for 
consideration  of  the  means  by  which  it  may  advance  the 
cause  of  Christ.  It  is  merged  in  the  Establishment.  Then 
the  Establishment  itself  is  without  self-government.  It  has 
no  representative  assembly,  for  the  Convocation  is  a  synod 
of  dignitaries  and  proctors  which  would  be  a  mockery  of 
representation ;  and  even  that  mockery  has  not  sat  to 
transact   business   since  the  year    1717.^      Besides,   were 

^  Matt,  xviii.  15-17.        ^  2  Thess.  iii.  6,  14.        ^  Matt,  xxiii.  8. 
*  Bom.  xiv.  1 .  ^  Rom.  xv.  7.  '  Burn,  ii.  30. 


158   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

the  Convocation  to  sit,  no  canon  can  be  enacted  without 
permission  of  the  Crown. ^  Nor  can  the  assent  of  the 
Crown  make  any  canon  binding  on  the  AngUcan  churches 
without  it  be  ratified  by  act  of  ParUament ;  ^  so  that  the 
EstabHshment  is  reduced  by  the  union  to  complete  inactiv- 
ity. It  can  make  for  itself  no  law,  rectify  no  abuse,  correct 
no  error,  seek  no  improvement ;  the  State  is  watching  it  as 
a  tiger  an  antelope,  and  allows  not  the  slightest  movement. 
All  things  else  are  in  progress,  but  the  laws  and  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Establishment  remain  century  after  century 
unrevised  and  unchangeable.  Each  church,  according  to 
the  will  of  Christ,  should  continually,  by  its  self-govern- 
ment, adapt  itself  to  the  highest  degree  of  civilization  ;  but 
the  State  forbids,  and  the  churches  prefer  the  mandate  of 
the  State  to  the  command  of  Christ. 

The  churches  having  criminally  disregarded  their  duty 
of  self-government,  are  no  longer  able  to  fulfill  the  will  of 
Christ  with  reference  to  the  admission  of  members.  A 
church  ought  to  be  an  association  of  saints  and  faithful 
brethren,  and  all  admitted  into  the  association  ought  to 
afford,  by  their  conduct  and  profession,  reason  to  hope  that 
they  are  so  too.  None,  therefore,  are  to  be  baptized  but 
those  who  profess  to  repent  and  believe  in  Christ.  Such 
is  Christ's  order,  but  the  church  has  received  another  order, 
by  canon  68,  which  is  as  follows  :  '*  No  minister  shall 
refuse  or  delay  to  christen  any  child  ....  that  is  brought 
to  the  church  to  him  upon  Sundays  or  holydays  to  be 
christened  ;  .  .  .  .  and  if  he  shall  refuse  to  christen,  .... 
he  shall  be  suspended  by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  from  his 
ministry  by  the  space  of  three  months."  This  canon, 
passed  by  a  synod  of  dignitaries  and  proctors,  would  not 
bind  the  pastors  of  churches  unless  it  had  been  confirmed 
by  the  Crown  ;  but  the  assent  of  the  Crown  has  made  it 
law,  and  it  has  thus  changed  the  church  from  an  assembly 
of  "  saints  and  faithful  brethren"  into  a  congeries  of  the 
whole  population  of  each  district.  Swarming  myriads  from 
Marylebone,  St.  Pancras,  Shoreditch,  and  St.  Luke's,  bring 
their  myriads  of  children  to  be  christened  without  the 
»  Burn,  vol.  ii.  p.  24.  '  lb.  p.  27. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  159 

remotest  idea  of  dedicating  them  to  God  or  of  trainino- 
them  for  God.  These  become  members  of  the  church,  till 
the  church  becomes  not  merely  the  Avorld,  but  comprises 
the  most  disreputable  part  of  the  world  ;  its  members  living 
without  worship,  without  the  Bible,  without  pastoral  super- 
intendence, without  any  appearance  of  religion,  and,  perhaps, 
without  common  morality.  And  the  churches  of  Christ 
and  his  ministers  are  the  State's  agents  in  thus  violating 
Christ's  commands. 

According  to  Christ's  law,  all  such  members  ought  to 
be  expelled  by  the  church,  while  all  his  disciples  should  be 
freely  admitted  to  communion.  But  the  churches  have 
received  different  orders  from  the  convocation  and  the 
crown  ;  whereas  all  believers  ought  to  be  admitted  to  the 
Lord's  table,  the  court  of  Arches,  acting  by  authority  of 
the  crown,  will  sustain  any  minister  who  excludes  from 
the  Lord's  table  any  person,  however  sound  in  faith  and 
holy  in  life,  however  pious  and  devoted,  who  refuses  to  be 
confirmed,^  or  belongs  to  another  parish, ^  or  is  a  dissenter,^ 
or  scruples  to  kneel  at  the  Lord's  table,^  or  who  speaks 
against  the  king's  authority  in  ecclesiastical  causes.*  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  parishioners  generally  have  a  right 
to  attend  at  the  table,  however,  worldly  and  frivolous  their 
lives  may  be.  By  1  Ed.  VI.  cap.  1,  "  The  minister  shall 
not,  without  lawful  cause,  deny  the  same  (the  Lord's  Sup- 
per) to  any  person  that  will  devoutly  and  humbly  desire 
it."  To  be  "  an  open  and  notorious  evil  liver,"  and  to  be 
"  living  in  malice  and  hatred,"  are  lawful  causes,  providea 
that  they  are  capable  of  legal  proof ;  but  the  court  of 
Arches,  acting  by  authority  of  the  crown,  will  punish  any 
minister  who,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  whole  church, 
of  which  he  is  the  pastor,  should  refuse  the  communion  to 
any  unconverted  and  ungodly  person  whom  he  could  not 
legally  prove  to  be  an  open  and  notorious  evil  liver,  or  to 
be  living  in  malice  and  hatred.  An  instance  of  the  effect 
of  this  state  of  the  law  occurred  not  many  years  since  at 
.      A  benevolent  and  moral  man,  of  Unitarian  opin- 

*  Rubric  to  the  Order  of  Confii-mation.  ^  Can.  28. 

8  Can.  27.  "  lb.  »  lb. 


160   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

ions,  having  contributed  five  pounds  a  year  to  the  Bible 
Society,  and  attended  the  committee  of  the  association,  the 
clergj^man  declared  that  he  could  not  support  the  Bible 
Society,  because  he  could  have  no  fellowship  with  Unita- 
rians. The  next  Sunday  after  that  this  statement  had 
been  made,  the  Unitarian  presented  himself  at  the  altar  of 
the  parish-church  ;  and  the  same  clergyman  administered 
the  Lord's  supper  to  him  with  the  other  communicants. 
The  Unitarian  devoutly  and  humbly  desired  it,  as  directed 
by  the  act ;  and  had  the  clergyman  refused  to  administer, 
the  court  of  Arches  must  have  decided  according  to  the 
act,  unless  the  heresy  could  be  legally  proved.  Thus  the 
law  of  Christ  is  set  aside  by  the  law  of  the  State.  Many 
are  kept  away  from  the  Lord's  table  whom  the  Lord  of  the 
table  invites  to  be  his  guests  ;  and  many  are  admitted 
there  who,  according  to  his  declared  will,  should  be  ex- 
cluded. 

The  law  of  Christ  determines  by  the  following  directions 
who  shall  be  excluded  from  the  church. 

"  I  liave  ivrittcn  unto  you  not  to  keep  company,  if  any 
7)ian  that  is  called  a  brother  he  a  fornicator,  or  covetous, 
07'  an  idolater,  or  a  railer,  or  a  drunkard,  or  an  extor- 
tioner;  with  such  a  one  ?io  not  to  eat Therefore, 

put  away  from  among  yourselves  tliat  wicked  person} 
....  We  command  you,  brethren.,  in  the  name  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  ivithdraiv  yourselves  from 
every  brother  that  walketh  disorderly,  and  not  after  the 
tradition  which  he  received  of  us.  And  if  any  man  obey 
not  our  word  by  this  epistle,  ?wte  that  man,  and  have  no 
company  ivith  him,  that  he  may  be  ashamed}.  .  .  .  Mark 
them  which  cause  divisions  and  offenses  contrary  to  the 
doctrine  which  ye  have  learned,  and  avoid  them.^.  .  .  .  A 
man  that  is  a  heretic  after  the  first  and  second  admcmi- 
tion  reject."^.  .  .  .  If  thy  brother  sludl  trespass  against 
thee,  go  and  tell  hifn  his  faidt  between  him  and  thee 
alone  ;  if  he  sliall  hear  thee,  thou  hast  gained  thy  brother. 
But  if  he  will  rwt  hear  thee,  then  take  urith  thee  one  or 

^  1  Cor.  V.  11,  13.  ^  2  Thess.  ill.  6,  14. 

»  Rom.  xvi.  17.  ♦  Tit.  iii.  10. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  16] 

tico  more,  that  in  the  mouth  of  tivo  m-  three  tvitnesses 
every  ivord  may  he  established.  And  if  he  shall  neglect 
to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto  the  church  :  but  if  he  neglect  to 
hear  the  church,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as  a  heathen  man 
and  a  'publican  r  ^ 

Few  persons  become  the  subjects  of  church-censures  for 
these  causes,  because  each  local  church  has  devolved  its 
duty  upon  an  ecclesiastical  court,  over  which  a  stranger  to 
the  case  presides  by  authority,  not  of  the  congregation,  but 
of  the  Crown,  who  must  have  legal  evidence,  and  must 
judge  according  to  legal  precedents. 

But  the  law  of  Christ  is  especially  set  aside  when  these 
offenses  are  committed  by  those  who  hold  the  situation  of 
pastors.  All  the  rules  above-mentioned  for  the  exclusion 
of  offending  members  from  the  church  direct  equally  the 
exclusion  of  offending  ministers.  And  there  are  other 
special  directions  concerning  these.  Immoral  ministers 
are  altogether  disowned  by  Christ.^  They  are  weeds  sown 
in  his  field  by  his  enemy  ;  ^  they  are  children  of  the  wicked 
one  ;  *  they  are  strangers,  whom  the  sheep  of  Christ  must 
not  follow.^  And  those  ministers  who  teach  false  doctrine 
instead  of  the  Gospel  are  ministers  of  Satan. ^  They  are  in 
danger  of  the  curse  of  God  ;  ^  they  ought  to  be  cut  off  from 
the  church  ;  ^  and  no  Christian  must  bid  them  God  speed. ^ 

Yet  an  immoral  minister,  or  one  who  perverts  the 
Gospel,  can  not  be  put  away  by  the  congregation  whom 
he  is  leading  to  destruction.  They  have  abdicated  their 
rights  for  the  sake  of  the  State's  bribe  ;  and  now  the 
State's  functionary  alone,  who  presides  in  the  court  of 
Arches,  can  determine  what  penalty  shall  be  paid  by  the 
clergyman  so  offending.  A  pastor  may  be  unacquainted 
with  the  way  of  salvation  ;  he  may  deny  the  total  ruin  of 
man,  salvation  by  grace  through  faith,  and  regeneration  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  word  of 
God  ;  he  may  adjust  his  standard  of  practice,  not  to  the 
law  of  Christ,  but  to  the  maxims  of  the  world  ;  but  of  all 

^  Matt,  xviii.  15-17.       ^  j^^tt.  vii.  23.       ^  Matt.  xiii.  25. 
*  Matt.  xiU.  38.  ^  John  x.  5.  «^  2  Cor.  xi.  13-15. 

'  Gal.  i.  8.  8  Gal.  v.  12.  ^  2  John  10. 


162   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

this  the  State  functionary  can  take  no  cognizance.  And 
how  far  he  is  likely,  as  a  substitute  for  the  church,  to  en- 
force the  law  of  Christ  for  the  exclusion  of  a  minister  whose 
offenses  he  can  legally  investigate,  we  may  learn  by  such 
instances  as  the  following.  In  the  case  of  B.  v.  Rev.  H. 
C,  vicar  of  C,  St.  M.,  the  judge  said,  ''  There  was  enough 
substantially  to  show  him  that  though  Mr.  C.  had  many 
good  points,  yet  he  had  been  neglectful  of  setting  that 
example  which  he  ought  to  have  presented  to  his  parish- 
ioners. Here  was  a  parish  containing  about  twelve  thou- 
sand inhabitants He  was  afraid  he  must  come  to  the 

conclusion  that  Mr.  C.  had  been  in  the  habit  of  frequenting 
public-houses,  of  drinking  on  some  occasions  to  excess,  of 
sitting  there  smoking  his  pipe,  and  drinking  half-and-half; 
that  he  was  guilty  of  dropping  out  an  oath,  and  on  some 

occasions  of  using  obscene  expressions Recollecting 

that  he  had  already  been  suspended  during  the  pendency 
of  this  suit,  a  period  of  eighteen  months,  he  was  of  opinion 
that  if  the  court  pronounced  a  further  suspension  of  eighteen 
months,  it  would  be  such  a  censure  as  the  case  required."  ^ 
What  idea  has  the  judge  of  the  pastoral  office  ?  What 
consideration  has  the  church  at  C.  for  their  spiritual  wel- 
fare to  submit  to  such  a  sentence  ?  What  regard  did 
either  the  one  or  the  other  manifest  to  the  law  of  Christ  ? 
By  Christ's  law  Mr.  C.  ought  to  be  utterly  excommunicated 
and  put  out  of  the  ministry  ;  but  by  the  law  of  the  Estab- 
lishment he  is  to  continue  the  pastor  of  that  church  at  C, 
and  they  are  to  be  esteemed  schismatics  if  they  do  not 
adhere  to  his  ministry.  More  flagrant  cases  have  within 
the  last  few  years  been  dealt  with  still  more  leniently. 

5.  Ere  our  Lord  left  the  world,  he  said  to  his  disciples, 
"  Go  ye  into  all  the  ivorld,  and  'preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature  ;''  ^  and  added,  "  io,  I  am  ivith  you  ahvay,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  ivorld.'' "^  He  himself  preached  the 
Gospel  on  the  mountain-side,'*  on  the  shore  of  the  lake,^ 
and  through  all  the  villages  and  towns  of  Galilee.^     After 

1  The  Record,  Monday,  Feb.  16,  1846.  "^  Mark  xvi.  16. 

'  Matt,  xxviii.  2a  <  Matt.  v.  1. 

«  Matt.  xiii.  1-3.  »  Matt,  iv   23;  ix.  35;  xi.  1. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  STATE.  163 

his  death  his  disciples  preached  every  where  ;  ^  and  every 
zealous  preacher  who  went  forth  to  the  heathen  was  to  be 
helped  in  his  work.^ 

But  the  State  has,  in  various  ways,  hindered  the  pastors 
of  the  Establishment  from  obeying  these  precepts. 

It  has  several  times  suspended  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  altogether  within  the  Establishment  till  further 
order  from  the  Crown,  and  the  Crown  has  the  same 
prerogative  now. 

Although  numbers  of  unconverted  and  irreligious  men 
are,  it  is  to  be  feared,  ordained  within  the  Establishment, 
the  law  gives  to  each  of  these  the  exclusive  right  to  preach 
in  his  parish.  So  that  within  many  parishes  ungodly  in- 
cumbents can  not  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ  by  preaching  the 
Gospel  to  the  people,  and  the  State  prohibits  any  godly 
ministers  wdthin  the  Establishment  from  fulfilhng  it. 

However  extensive  a  parish  may  be,  and  however  negli- 
gent the  legal  pastor  may  be,  no  chapel-of-ease  may  be 
erected  within  the  parish  by  the  people  without  consent 
af  the  diocesan,  patron,  and  incumbent,  except  in  some 
cases  specified  by  recent  church-building  acts. 

However  negligent,  or  even  vicious,  a  pastor  may  be,  no 
preacher  of  the  Establishment  may  preach  in  any  church 
or  chapel  wdthin  the  limits  of  the  parish,  without  his  con- 
sent. 

Whatever  ignorance  or  irreligion  may  prevail  in  a  diocese, 
no  minister  without  a  benefice  in  the  diocese,  however  ex- 
emplary, wise,  and  holy  he  may  be,  has  any  right  to  officiate 
within  it  in  any  way  whatever  without  the  license  of  the 
bishop.  So  that  when  the  State  places  an  ungodly  bishop 
over  any  diocese,  it  enables  him,  to  a  great  extent,  to  ex- 
clude the  Gospel  from  the  churches  within  his  territory. 

Any  clergyman  may  be  by  law  suspended  for  preaching 
in  any  place  which  is  not  licensed  by  the  bishop,  although 
there  may  be  thousands  of  persons  in  his  immediate  neigh- 
borhood who  never  hear  the  Gospel  preached,  and  who  will 
not  come  to  the  parish  church. 

If  this  supremacy  of  the  State  is  in  itself  a  dishonor 

^  Acts  viii.  1-4;  xi.  19.  ^  3  John  6-8. 


164   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

done  to  Christ,  and  if  it  practically  sets  aside  many  of  his 
commands,  how  can  those  who  wish  to  honor  him  perpetu- 
ate it  by  upholding  the  union  between  the  State  and  the 
Church  ?  To  allow  any  association  of  men  not  authorized 
by  him,  and  still  more,  to  allow  an  association,  which  can 
not,  from  its  constitution,  but  be  composed  of  worldly  meu; 
to  direct  the  administration  of  the  churches  of  Christ  in 
spiritual  things,  manifests  in  the  churches  which  consent  to 
it,  a  disregard  to  the  authority  and  to  the  honor  of  Jesus 
Christ,  on  the  criminality  of  which  it  is  painful  to  reflect. 
In  that  guilt,  too,  every  member  of  the  Establishment  who 
does  not  openly  protest  against  the  union  must  be  involved. 
Recall  the  principles  of  the  supremacy  which  have  just 
been  stated,  and  then  consider  what  is  the  character  of  the 
usurpation  on  the  part  of  the  State,  and  of  the  subservien- 
cy on  the  part  of  each  of  the  churches. 

The  State  being  necessarily  composed  of  a  majority  of 
worldly  men,  maintains  its  superintendence  over  the  church- 
es, not  for  the  sake  of  the  Gospel  which  they  do  not  receive, 
but  for  the  purposes  of  government,  which  they  can  appre- 
ciate :  "  When  these  men  thrust  themselves  in  to  regulate 
religious  affairs,  they  are  more  or  less  culpable,  according 
as  the  consciences  of  their  subjects  have  or  have  not  spon- 
taneously placed  themselves  under  the  yoke  ;  but  they  are 
culpable,  because  every  application  of  sacred  things  to  secu- 
lar uses  participates  in  the  character  of  sacrilege.  In  the 
same  manner,  those  who  ally  themselves  with  the  State 
are  more  or  less  culpable,  according  as  they  have  invited 
or  only  accepted  this  alliance  with  the  governing  power. 
But  they  are  culpable ;  and  for  the  crime  which  they  com- 
mit as  churches,  there  is  no  other  name  than  that  of  adul- 
tery. Thus  sacrilege  and  adultery  are  the  tivo  charac- 
ters of  the  union,  according  as  one  thinks  of  the  State, 
which  has  seized  a  treasure  intrusted  to  the  church,  which 
ought  to  have  been  inviolable,  or  of  the  church  which  ha» 

surrendered  it The  church,  which  is  the  soul  of  the 

human  race,  has  God  for  her  husband.  To  him  she  has 
Bworn  an  entire  fidelity.  She  has  sworn  to  obey  none  but 
him,  and  to  recognize  in  him  alone  the  inalienable  rights 


OF  PATROxNAGB.  165 

of  a  husband.  But  the  union  which  she  contracts,  as  a 
spiritual  society,  with  a  society  which  has  in  it  nothing 
spiritual,  transferring  to  that  secular  society  the  authority 
which  belongs  to  God  alone,  reduces  her  to  a  state  of  fla- 
grant and  permanent  adultery."  ^ 

Secttion  III. — Of  Patronage. 

Closely  connected  with  the  supremacy  of  the  State  is 
the  right  of  patronage,  which  is  another  consequence  of  the 
legal  maintenance  of  the  Anglican  pastors.  It  has  been 
settled  that .  the  owners  of  estates  charged  with  the  pay- 
ment of  the  salaries  of  pastors  shall  have  the  nomination. 
The  parochial  churches  of  Christ,  within  the  Establish- 
ment, being  about  11,000,  the  pastors  of  952  are  chosen 
by  the  Crown  ;  1248  are  chosen  by  bishops  and  archbish- 
ops ;  787,  by  deans  and  chapters;  1851,  by  other  digni- 
taries; 721,  by  colleges;  and  5996,  by  private  patrons. ^ 
When  a  patron  presents  a  minister  to  a  bishop  to  be  settled 
as  the  pastor  of  a  church,  the  church  has  no  voice  in  the 
transaction.  The  bishop  is  almost  as  powerless  ;  for,  un- 
less he  can  prove  the  nominee  to  be  legally  disqualified,  he 
must  admit  him  to  the  pastoral  charge.  That  the  nominee 
is  offensive  to  the  people,  infirm,  indolent,  with  little  talent, 
slender  theological  attainments,  and  few  virtues  ;  that  he 
is  ill-tempered  or  eccentric  ;  that  he  hunts  and  shoots, 
attends  at  balls,  and  plays  cards,  are  no  legal  disqualifica- 
tions. Unless  the  bishop  can  prove  him  to  be  heretical  or 
immoral,  he  must  admit  him  to  be  the  pastor,  or  the  patron 
would  obtain  damages  against  the  bishop  in  an  action  of 
quare  impedit  in  the  temporal  court ;  and  the  rejected 
nominee  would  obtain  a  judgment  against  him  in  the  eccle- 
siastical court  by  a  suit  of  duplex  querela.  If  in  this  lat- 
ter case  the  bishop  do  not  prove  his  charge,  or  if  the  cause 
of  his  refusal  to  institute  be  insufficient  in  law,  the  arch- 
bishop decrees  that  the  nominee  shall  be  instituted,  and  the 

*  Vinet,  "  Essai  sur  la  Manifestation  des  Convictions  Religeuses," 
pp.  231,  232. 

«  M'Culloch's  "  Statistics,"  vol.  ii.  p.  406. 


166    THE  UxNION  CONDEMxNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

bishop  is  condemned  in  the  expenses.^  By  this  state  of  the 
law,  whenever  the  patron  chooses  an  unfit  and  obnox- 
ious person  out  of  fifteen  thousand  ecclesiastics,  of  whom 
many  are  ungodly,  to  be  the  pastor  of  any  church,  neither 
the  bishop  nor  the  church  can  oppose  any  direct  hindrance. 
If  he  be.  not  legally  disqualified  he  must  be  admitted. 

Few  things  can  be  more  important  to  a  church  than 
the  choice  of  its  pastor.  A  wise,  holy,  zealous,  and  afiec- 
tionate  minister  may  be  the  instrument  of  conversion  to 
many  souls,  and  promote  the  spiritual  welfare  of  all  the 
members  of  the  church.  Under  his  pastoral  care  personal 
and  family  religion,  education,  attention  to  the  wants  of  the 
poor,  and  missionary  zeal,  may  all  flourish.  Parents  may 
see  their  children  growing  up  in  the  fear  of  God,  families 
may  be  united  and  happy,  a  congregation  may  be  devout 
and  holy,  and  the  piety  of  a  whole  neighborhood  may  be 
advanced.  An  ungodly  minister  may,  on  the  other  hand, 
alienate  the  most  pious  members  of  the  church  from  his 
ministry,  empty  both  the  school  and  the  temple,  expose 
religion  to  the  contempt  of  the  scorner,  bring  down  a 
spiritual  blight  upon  the  place,  and  leave  the  church,  after 
half  a  century  of  misdeeds,  as  lukewarm  as  the  church  of 
Laodicea,  and  as  dead  as  the  church  of  Sardis. 

Yet  in  this  important  transaction  a  church  within  the 
Establishment  has  no  voice.  The  patron,  the  nominee, 
and  the  bishop,  may  be  all  wordly  men,  who  care  nothing 
for  their  spiritual  welfare  ;  but  the  nominee,  backed  by  his 
patron,  and  aided  by  the  bishop,  may  despise  the  reluctance 
of  the  church,  and  assume,  against  their  will,  the  direction 
of  their  worship,  the  government  of  their  schools,  and  the 
whole  pastoral  superintendence  of  their  parish.  It  is  true, 
that  assuming  to  guide  them  to  heaven  he  does  not  know 
the  way  thither  himself;  but  they  must  place  themselves 
under  his  guidance,  because  they  wish  to  avoid  paying  his 
salary.  Men  do  not  act  thus  in  matters  of  far  less  moment. 
The  same  persons  who  quietly  allow  strangers  to  nominate 
their  pastor  would  resent  a  similar  dictation  respecting  any 
other  functionary.  They  would  allow  no  stranger  to  nom- 
'  Burn,  vol.  i.  pp.  157,  159,  161. 


OF  PATRONAGE.  167 

inate  the  tutor  to  instruct  their  children,  the  physician  to 
attend  their  families,  the  lawyer  to  transact  their  husiness, 
or  the  member  to  represent  them  in  Parliament.  And 
yet  the  qualifications  of  their  pastor  exercise  a  more  power- 
ful influence  upon  them  for  good  or  evil  than  any  one  of 
these  professional  or  public  men. 

To  transfer  an  unrestricted  right  of  choosing  their  pastor 
to  any  patron,  however  Avise  and  pious,  would  be  culpable 
rashness  ;  but  the  patrons  to  whom  the  Anglican  churches 
commit  this  right  are  peculiarly  unfitted  to  exercise  it. 
The  right  is  obtained  not  by  their  personal  excellence,  nor 
by  an  election  to  it,  but  from  the  accident  that  they  hold 
the  estate  which  pays  the  salary,  or  have  purchased  the 
right  irom  those  who  hold  it.  Thus  persons  of  all  degrees 
of  imbecility,  ignorance,  irreligion,  and  immorality,  may 
choose  pastors  for  the  Anglican  churches  out  of  a  body  of 
fifteen  thousand  ecclesiastics,  among  whom  there  are  num- 
bers of  irrelio-ious  and  unconverted  men.  And  since  these 
patrons  are  generally  rich,  and  "  it  ts  easier  for  a  caonel  to 
g,o  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  tJian  fm-  a  rich  man  to 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,''  ^  they  are,  as  a  class, 
more  likely  to  be  irreligious  than  others  are,  and  thus  far 
less  capable  of  estimating  rightly  the  qualifications  of  a 
good  pastor.  It  makes  the  matter  worse,  that  this  right 
is  often  separated  from  the  possession  of  the  estate  which 
originally  conveyed  it,  so  that  the  patron  may  be  a  stranger 
to  the  people,  and  totally  regardless  of  their  welfare.  To 
such  hands  have  the  eleven  thousand  parochial  churches 
of  the  Establishment  consented,  for  the  sake  of  the  salaries, 
to  transfer  the  right  of  choosing  their  pastors. 

By  the  law  of  Christ,  Christians  are  to  try  the  ministers 
who  preach  to  them,  must  not  listen  to  those  who  do  not 
preach  the  Gospel,  must  not  receive  unsound  teachers  into 
their  houses,  and  must  separate  from  evil-doers  whether 
ministers  or  members.^  But  the  Anglican  churches,  on 
the  condition  that  they  do  not  furnish  the  salaries,  have 

^  Matt.  xix.  24. 

=»  Matt.  vii.  15-20;  John  x.  5  j  2  John  9-11;  Rom.  xvi.  17  j 
1  Cor.  V.  11,  13;  2  Cor.  vi.  14-18,  &c. 


168   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

committed  to  men  who  are  generally,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
destitute  of  spiritual  religion,  the  absolute  right  of  selecting 
their  pastors,  without  reserving  to  themselves  the  right  of 
examination  or  remonstrance. 

This  custom  of  the  churches  within  the  Establishment 
is  the  less  excusable,  because  it  contradicts  the  practice 
of  the  churches  which  were  under  the  immediate  direction 
of  the  apostles.  The  church  at  Jerusalem  chose  its  own 
deacons  ;  the  churches  planted  by  the  apostle  Paul,  nomi- 
nated their  presbyters  by  election  ;  and  when  the  vacancy 
in  the  number  of  the  apostles,  occasioned  by  the  apostasy 
of  Judas,  was  to  be  filled  up,  it  was  the  church  which 
nominated  the  two  disciples,  one  of  whom  was  to  become 
an  apostle.^  To  disregard  these  precedents  is  to  despise 
the  authority  of  Christ,  by  which  the  apostles  acted  ;  for, 
unless  special  circumstances  can  be  pleaded  to  show  that 
any  apostolic  practice  was  meant  to  be  ephemeral,  each 
such  practice  must  describe  a  permanent  authoritative  in- 
stitution, which  is  to  be  respected  and  maintained  by  every 
disciple  of  Christ. 

When,  therefore,  any  Anglican  congregation  submits  to 
the  intrusive  appointment  of  a  pastor  by  a  patron,  it  con- 
sents to  disregard  a  regulation  framed  by  the  apostles,  upon 
Christ's  authority,  for  the  universal  church.  What  right 
has  the  patron  to  nominate  the  pastor  ?  His  estate  quali- 
fies him  to  furnish  the  salary,  but  as  it  gives  him  neither 
talent  nor  piety,  nor  even  good  morals,  it  does  not  qualify 
him  to  choose  the  pastor,  nor  can  it  convey  the  right  to  do 
so.  If  it  be  replied  that  the  State  has  enacted  this  ar- 
rangement, we  must  ask,  Who  gave  the  State  authority 
thus  to  interfere  with  the  prescribed  duties  of  the  church  ? 
The  State  has  no  such  right ;  and  if  it  has  usurped  the 
right  of  the  church  by  means  of  the  salary,  the  church  is 
bound  to  relinquish  the  salary  and  to  recover  the  right.  It 
is  bound  to  recover  its  independence,  however  excellent  the 
intrusive  pastor  might  be  ;  but  the  mischief  becomes  still 
more  intense  when  the  pastor  to  be  forced  upon  them  is 
ungodly. 

*  Acts  vi.  1-5;  xiv.  23;  i.  12-26. 


OF  PATRONAGE.  169 

The  mischief  which  is  done  to  a  church  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  ungodly  minister  demonstrates  the  magnitude 
of  the  injury  which  the  whole  Establishment  must  suffer 
from  this  cause.  If  it  be  as  intolerable  an  evil  to  an  evan- 
gelical church  to  have  an  ungodly  pastor  as  for  a  flock  to 
have  a  wolf  for  its  shepherd,  a  crew  when  tossed  by  the 
tempest  to  have  a  drunkard  for  their  captain,  or  for  an 
army  in  an  enemy's  country  to  have  a  traitor  lor  their  gen- 
eral, it  must  be  intolerable  to  the  Establishment  to  have 
many  of  its  churches  misled  by  many  such  pastors.  But 
as  lo7ig  as  the  sijstem  of  imtronage  lasts,  this  evil  must 
continue.  The  rich  patrons  of  this  country  are  not  gener- 
ally evangelical  and  godly,  and  therefore  do  not  nominate 
evangelical  and  godly  pastors  ;  and  ungodly  pastors  can 
never  form  and  build  up  evangelical  and  godly  churches. 
Thus  this  single  evil  of  patro^iage  secures  tliat  the  church- 
es of  the  Establishment  shall  continue,  as  they  liave  ever 
been,  to  a  great  extent  ignorant  and  irreligious.  Irrcr 
ligious  patrons  are  a  corrupt  .foundation  for  the  Estab- 
lishment, which  no  hnprovements  in  the  detail  of  its  ad- 
ministratimi  can  ever  rectify  ;  and  patronage  must  ever 
he  a  source  of  mischief,  so  p>i'olific  that  the  churches  of  the 
Establishinent,  withcntt  such  miracles  of  grace  as  this  dis' 
regard  of  the  authority  of  Christ  forbids  us  to  expect^ 
must  still  remain  ignorayit  and  irreligious. 

A  veto  law,  such  as  was  adopted  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  would  mitigate  the  evil, 
because  a  church  once  enlightened  and  evangelical  would 
never  afterward  receive  as  its  pastor  an  ungodly  nominee 
of  the  patron  ;  and  thus  evangelical  churches  would  be 
multiplied.  Here  let  me  describe  the  working  of  that 
veto  law  in  Scotland,  which  was  beneficial  in  the  highest 
degree  : — 

"  The  veto  was  proposed  by  Dr.  Chalmers,  and  lost  by 
a  majority  of  two,  in  1833  ;  and  in  1834,  on  the  motion 
of  Lord  Moncrieff,  it  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  forty-six. 

"  The  use  of  the  right,  thus  recovered  by  the  communi- 
cants of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  has  been  so  moderate,  that 
although  there  have  been  three  hundred  presentations  since 

H 


170  THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

the  passing  of  the  Act,  there  have  been  only  about  twelve 
instances  of  the  veto  ;  and  not  a  single  instance  of  a  second 
veto  in  any  one  vacancy. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  its  influence,  which  has  been  felt 
through  the  whole  Scottish  people,  speedily  justified  the 
wisdom  of  those  who  enacted  it.  Parents  could  no  longer 
destine  a  son  to  the  ministry  without  regard  to  his  religious 
character  or  mental  powers  ;  and^  patrons  could  no  longer 
determine  who  should  be  the  pastor  of  a  parish  by  mere 
caprice,  nor  settle  a  young  man  in  an  important  spiritual 
relation  to  repay  the  secular  services  rendered  by  his  parents, 
to  serve  a  dependent  or  to  gratify  a  friend  :  but  parents 
and  patron  were  now  obliged  to  consider  whether  the  tal- 
ents and  virtues  of  the  young  man  would  secure  the  assent 
of  the  parishioners. 

"  The  effect  of  the  veto  upon  the  presbyteries  was  equally 
good.  Prior  to  this  act,  the  chief  check  upon  absolute  pat- 
ronage lay  in  their  examinations  ;  but  many  of  the  presby- 
ters had  themselves  been  thrust  upon  reluctant  parishes  ; 
many  depended  upon  patrons  for  preferment ;  there  was  a 
right  of  appeal  from  their  judgment  to  higher  church  courts, 
which  were  then  under  the  dominant  influence  of  moderat- 
ism  ;  and  should  they  be  supposed  to  act  beyond  their  com- 
petency, the  civil  courts  were  ready  to  interpose.  These, 
or  some  other  reasons  yet  more  powerful,  had  so  paralyzed 
them,  that,  although  many  incompetent  and  unworthy  men 
were  presented,  it  has  been  asserted  that  there  is  no  instance 
within  the  memory  of  man  in  which  a  presentee  has  been 
rejected  by  a  presbytery  on  the  ground  of  moral  disqualifi- 
cation till  the  passing  of  the  veto.  Presbyteries  themselves 
deteriorated  under  absolute  patronage  ;  the  dread  of  the 
condemnation  of  public  opinion  was  not  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent the  passing  of  individuals,  whose  want  of  the  most 
ordinary  qualifications  was  a  scandal  to  the  church  ;  and 
the  trial  of  a  presentee,  no  less  than  the  call  of  the  people, 
'  was  too  often  a  total  mockery.'  But  since  the  veto  act, 
presbyteries  having  been  led  to  consider  more  carefully  the 
good  of  the  people,  their  examinations  hare  become  in  con- 
sequence more  strict ;  and  in  two  cases  a  probationer,  nom- 


OF  PATRONAGE.  171 

inated  by  the  patron,  and  accepted  by  the  people,  has  been 
rejected  by  the  presbytery  on  the  ground  of  disquahfication. 

"  If  these  two  checks  exercised  a  happy  influence  upon 
the  patrons  in  the  choice  of  a  minister,  they  acted  still 
more  powerfully  on  the  theological  students  themselves 
Under  the  reign  of  an  almost  unrestricted  patronage,  any 
youth  who  had  not  talent  enough  for  the  bar,  and  wa? 
without  sufficient  industry  for  trade,  might  be  sure,  if  hi? 
parents  could  only  obtain  the  favor  of  a  patron,  that  he 
would  get  into  a  comfortable  manse.  But  after  the  enact- 
ment of  the  veto,  every  theological  student  knew  that,  in 
the  absence  of  considerable  ability,  learning,  and  serious- 
ness, to  say  the  least,  he  would  be  vetoed  by  the  people  oi 
rejected  by  the  presbytery,  even  if  he  could  obtain  a  nomi- 
nation from  the  patron.  Access  to  the  ministry  being  thu? 
denied  to  the  irreligious  and  the  indolent,  men  of  ability, 
learning,  and  virtue,  now  saw  their  way  open  to  posts  of 
usefulness.  Whether  they  were  of  opulent  families  with 
out  ecclesiastical  patronage,  or  of  the  humblest  rank  still 
further  off  from  the  smiles  of  the  great,  they  had  no  longer 
the  mortification  of  seeing  the  ill-qualified  dependents  of 
patrons,  without  any  kind  of  excellence,  by  an  unworthy 
favoritism  placed  over  their  heads.  Hence,  while  there 
were  as  many  probationers  from  the  higher  classes  as  before 
the  veto,  the  students  of  every  class  were  decidedly  more 
instructed  and  more  talented  than  before.  Nor  did  the  in- 
creased severity  of  discipline  leave  the  church  without  pas- 
tors. It  scared  away  the  worthless,  but  it  attracted  the 
men  of  worth.  In  1838,  i.  e.  four  years  after  the  opera- 
tion of  the  veto,  the  number  of  probationers  was  five  hun- 
dred, and  in  1839  it  was  about  seven  hundred,  while  the 
whole  number  of  vacancies  occurring  in  the  church,  includ- 
ing unendowed  churches  and  colonial  appointments,  was 
about  fifty.  So  that,  in  that  latter  year,  the  number  of 
probationers  was  equal  to  the  supply  of  the  church  with 
ministers  for  fourteen  years  ;  and  at  the  same  time,  the 
additional  annual  supply  of  probationers  was  double  the 
annual  number  of  vacancies. 

"  When,  further,  the  accepted  probationer  became,  under 


172   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD, 

the  veto,  the  pastor  of  a  parish,  he  entered  on  his  ministry 
under  circumstances  remarkably  contrasted  with  those 
which  often  arose  from  almost  unrestricted  patronage. 
The  intruded  presentee,  forced  upon  a  reluctant  people, 
was  a  being  apart  from  them  ;  perhaps  irritated  by  their 
opposition,  perhaps  indifferent  to  their  welfare,  but  at  all 
events  beginning  his  parental  and  pastoral  care  of  them 
with  the  aspect  of  one  who  was  determined  to  exact  ob- 
noxious dues  from  sullen  debtors,  and  to  exercise  a  hated 
authority  upon  those  who  would  expel  him  if  they  could  : 
under  the  veto  he  would  not  begin  his  ministerial  labors 
among  them  till  he  had  first  secured  their  fHendship  ;  and, 
owing  his  appointment  to  their  consent,  he  would  feel  a 
gratitude  for  their  kindness  blending  with  other  motives  to 
do  them  good. 

"On  the  congregation,  too,  the  influence  of  the  veto 
was  salutary.  When  a  minister  is  forced  upon  a  people 
against  the  principle  of  their  church,  and  against  their 
own  convictions  of  his  suitableness,  their  minds  must  be 
shut  against  his  instructions,  because  they  doubt  his  charity, 
and  because  they  question  his  authority  from  Christ ;  but 
when  they  have  solemnly  expressed  their  belief  that  their 
pastor  is  well  fitted  to  do  them  good,  and  he  assumes  his 
ministry  among  them,  by  their  own  consent,  in  accordance 
with  every  law  of  the  Gospel  and  of  their  church,  then  are 
they  prepared  to  listen  to  him  with  reverence  and  afi'ection. 

"  The  effect  of  these  improved  relations  between  the 
ministers  of  the  Scotch  Church  and  their  people,  was  felt 
far  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  parishes  in  which  new  min- 
isters were  settled  under  the  act.  As  unrestricted  patron- 
age and  the  settled  worldliness  to  which  it  mainly  gave 
rise  in  the  church  had  driven  many  from  it,  and  alienated 
many  more  who  remained  within  it,  so  its  friends  now  saw 
with  joy  its  increasing  spirituality,  and  the  sight  revived 
their  attachment  to  it.  Fresh  activity  began  now  to  be 
displayed  in  multiplying  the  means  of  instruction  through 
the  land.  During  the  dreary  period  of  declension  and 
spiritual  death,  from  1730,  when  ministers  began  to  be 
generally  intruded,  to  1834,  when  the  veto  was  enacted, 


OF  PATRONAGE.  173 

scarcely  any  additional  buildings  were  erected  for  the 
worship  of  God,  though  the  population  had  continued  to 
increase.  As  late  as  1797,  all  proposals  to  erect  chapels- 
of-ease  were  discountenanced  by  the  Assembly ;  and  except 
by  the  direction  of  that  authority,  which  was  then  hostile, 
no  member  of  the  church  might  erect  one. 

"  The  result  of  this  policy,  which  was  as  neglectful  of 
the  welfare  of  the  people  as  it  was  suicidal  to  the  Estab- 
lishment, was,  that  while  six  hundred  congregations  of  dis- 
senters grew  up  within  that  century,  sixty-three  chapels-of- 
ease  alone  were  added  to  the  fabrics  of  the  Establishment. 
But,  after  the  passing  of  the  veto,  new  life  was  infused 
into  the  evangelical  members  of  the  church,  and  under 
their  guidance  new  energy  marked  all  its  operations.      In 

1834,  ministers  of  chapels-of-ease  were  admitted  by  the  act 
of  the  Assembly  to  church  courts  and  other  privileges.      In 

1835,  sixty-two  new  churches  were  either  built  or  in  pro- 
gress, being  only  one  less  than  the  number  which  had  been 
erected  in  the  whole  previous  century  ;  and  at  the  end  of 
five  years,  the  number  of  new  churches  erected  or  in 
progress  was  201;  being  an  addition  of  more  than  one-fifth 
to  the  whole  number  of  the  churches  in  the  Establishment 
in  1834. 

' '  Meanwhile,  the  growing  zeal  of  pious  members  of  the 
church  would  not  be  confined  to  home  objects.  In  1796, 
an  overture  made  to  the  Assembly  in  behalf  of  missions 
was  rejected  by  58  to  44.  The  speeches  made  against 
the  overture  by  the  clergymen  who  spoke  on  that  occasion, 
preserved  in  a  spirited  tract  by  Mr.  Hugh  Miller,  I  will 
not  characterize.  But  better  counsels  began  to  prevail  : 
the  principle  of  foreign  missions  was  adopted  in  1824;  a 
colonial  missionary  scheme  was  instituted  in  1836  ;  a 
mission  to  the  Jews  was  undertaken  in  1838  ;  and  besides 
the  erection  of  two  hundred  new  churches  at  home,  and 
large  annual  contributions  to  the  scheme  for  education,  the 
missionary  income  of  the  church  increased,  between  1834 
and  1842,  from  4856Z.  to  25,307Z. 

"  Yet  all  this  exertion  was  not  the  result  of  a  spirit  of 
sectarian  rivalry.     The  same  grace  of  God  which  had  re- 


174   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

vived  evangelical  doctrine  in  the  church,  had  also  opened 
the  hearts  of  Christians  within  it  to  their  brethren  of  other 
denominations.  Bigotry  often  grows  with  the  decay  of 
piety,  as  the  fungus  flourishes  most  on  a  rotten  tree  ;  and 
during  the  declension  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  Church 
of  Scotland  did  not  become  liberal.  '  Saints  by  profession,' 
says  the  Confession  of  the  Church,  '  are  bound  to  maintain 
an  holy  fellowship  and  communion  in  the  worship  of  God, 
&:c.,  which  communion,  as  God  offers  opportunity,  is  to  be 
extended  unto  all  those  who  in  every  place  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.'  *  In  contravention,  however,  of 
this  catholic  doctrine  of  the  Confession,  and  in  opposition 
to  the  uniform  practice  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  down- 
ward from  the  Reformation,  the  limits  of  ministerial  com- 
munion with  other  churches  were  perseveringly  straitened 
during  the  long  reign  of  moderatism,  till  at  last,  by  an  act 
of  Assembly,  passed  in  1799,  the  absolute  exclusion  of  the 
ministers  of  every  other  church  under  heaven  from  even 
occasional  preaching  in  the  pulpits  of  the  Establishment, 
was  effected,  and  a  declaration  of  non-communion  in  this 
matter  against  the  w^iole  Christian  world  was  promulgated.' 

«'  Very  different  w^ere  the  views  of  the  evangelical  ma- 
jority of  1834,  of  which  the  following  sentence,  adopted 
by  the  Assembly  in  1838,  may  be  taken  as  an  exposition  : 
'  We  protest,  therefore,  most  solemnly,  as  our  fathers  often, 
at  the  utmost  hazard  of  their  lives,  protested,  against  intol- 
erance and  persecution  of  every  kind  on  account  of  religion, 
against  all  proceedings  and  plans  whose  object  is  to  impose 
restraints,  or  pains  and  penalties,  on  men  for  conscience 
sake  ;  or  in  any  other  way  to  coerce  or  constrain  their  sen- 
timents concerning  the  truth  of  God.' 

"  These  are  sentiments  worthy  a  Christian  church  ;  and 
though  the  voluntary  controversy  still  ran  high,  the  conduct 
of  the  church  since  1834  was  calculated  in  various  ways 
to  lessen  the  asperity  of  dissent.  The  intolerant  act  of 
1799  was  modified,  and  ministers  of  foreign  Presbyterian 
churches  were  admitted  into  the  pulpits  of  the  Establish- 
ment, which  were  eventually  thrown  open  to  other  denom- 
inations also. 


OF  PATRONAGE.  175 

"  Former  exclusiveness  had  augmented  the  amount  of 
dissent,  and  increased  its  bitterness.  Under  the  influence 
of  moderatism,  the  few  seceding  congregations  of  the 
Erskines  and  their  friends  grew  into  five  hundred  ;  and 
the  whole  number  of  dissenting  congregations  in  1834  was 
six  hundred,  or  more  than  half  the  number  of  the  congre- 
gations of  the  Establishment.  But  while  the  evangelical 
majority  of  1834  had  raised  201  new  churches  within  five 
years  after  the  passing  the  veto  act,  their  principles  and 
their  piety  so  influenced  many  of  the  dissenters,  that  the 
burgher  synod,  comprehending  about  forty  churches,  re- 
united themselves  with  them. 

"  Thus  the  veto  law,  under  the  administration  of  the 
non-intrusi'onists  in  the  Church  of  Scotland,  aided  by  sev- 
eral other  wholesome  laws  which  they  passed,  had  restrained 
the  abuses  of  patronage,  had  induced  presbyteries  to  be 
more  strict  in  their  examinations  of  candidates  for  the  min- 
istry, had  raised  the  mental  and  moral  qualifications  of 
probationers,  and  was  yearly  enlarging  the  number  of  pious 
ministers.  It  cemented  the  aflections  of  ministers  and 
their  flocks  ;  it  satisfied  the  consciences  of  the  most  enlight- 
ened and  pious  members  of  the  church,  and  revived  their 
affection  toward  it  when  viewed  as  an  Establishment ;  it 
multiplied  churches  and  schools ;  it  improved  the  discipline 
of  the  church  and  augmented  its  resources  ;  it  established 
or  strengthened  missions  to  the  colonies,  to  the  heathen, 
and  to  the  Jews  ;  and  it  conciliated  multitudes  of  dissent- 
ers, while  it  lessened  the  asperity  of  all."  ^ 

But  the  determined  opposition  to  the  veto  by  almost  all 
our  statesmen  of  all  parties,  the  merciless  maintenance  of 
unrestricted  patronage,  the  resolute  defiance  of  the  dangers 
foreseen  to  be  involved  in  its  maintenance,  and  the  unre- 
pentant steadfastness  with  which  Parliament  has  clung  to 
it,  after  450  of  the  best  and  ablest  of  the  Scotch  ministers, 
by  their  forced  secession,  have  left  the  Establishment  al- 
most a  ruin,  proves  that,  in  the  opinion  of  Parliament,  the 
principle  of  an  Establishment  is  essentially  interwoven  with 
the  principle  of  patronage.  Before  these  events  in  Scot- 
^  Case  of  the  Free  Church,  pp.  14-30. 


176  THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

land  I  hoped  for  a  reformation  on  this  point  in  the  Angli- 
can churches  ;  but  no  one  can  hope  noAV.  It  has  been 
irrevocably  ruled,  that  a  patronage  which  tramples  down 
the  rights  of  churches,  and  which  in  many  instances  allows 
the  blind  to  nominate  the  blind  as  guides  of  the  seeing,  is 
the  condition  upon  which  the  Establishment  exists. 

It  seems,  then,  to  me,  that  they  who  by  the  sovereign 
mercy  of  God  have  been  brought  out  of  darkness  into  light, 
and  have  enlisted  loyally  in  the  service  of  Christ,  are  bound 
either  to  recover  the  right  of  the  churches,  and  to  recall 
them  to  their  duty  in  this  vital  matter  ;  or  if  they  are  too 
weak  for  this  achievement,  then  to  act  with  the  integrity 
which  has  done  honor  to  the  north,  and  leave  the  Estab- 
Hshment  to  drift  down  the  stream  of  events  in  the  hands 
of  the  blind  and  the  deaf. 

By  thus  resigning  one  spiritual  right  after  another,  the 
Anglican  churches  have  lost  much  that  ought  to  distinguish 
the  churches  of  Christ.  Their  pastors  are  selected  and 
supported  by  strangers,  all  sorts  of  persons  may  force  their 
children  into  communion  with  them  by  baptism,  and  de- 
mand admission  themselves  to  the  Lord's  table.  They 
have  no  discipline  except  such  as  is  exercised  by  a  distant 
crown  officer.  As  there  is  no  exclusion  of  ungodly  persons 
from  their  society,  so  they  have  little  association  among 
themselves  ;  no  church  meetings  being  held  either  for  their 
own  spiritual  welfare  or  for  their  united  action  in  the  service 
of  Christ.  In  yielding  to  the  dominion  of  the  State,  each 
church  has  lost  all  self-government,  has  cast  away  many 
of  its  most  sacred  functions,  and  has  finished  by  abandon- 
ing its  proper  name  ;  and  preferring  a  secular  to  a  sacred 
appellation,  calls  itself  not  a  church,  but  a  parish,  as 
though  it  were  ashamed,  after  its  open  infidelity  to  Christ, 
to  call  itself  his  church  any  longer. 

Section  IV, — On  the  Principle  of  Coercion. 

A  necessary  consequence  of  the  legal  maintenance  of  the 
Anglican  pastors  is,  that  its  payment  should  be  secured  by 
law.      "  The  principle   of  coercion  by  penalty,"   says  an 


ON  THE  PRLXCIPLE  OF  COERCION.  177 

evangelical  advocate  of  the  Establishment,  "  must  stand, 
because  laws  must  be  enforced."  The  provision  for  pastors 
must  be  "  secured  by  compulsion,  should  compulsion  be 
rendered  necessary  by  resistance."  «'  Let  this  stand.  Let 
the  penalty  be  modified  so  as  not  to  touch  the  conscience 
or  the  person  of  any  man,  but  only  his  property.  It  com- 
pels not  to  conformity  in  either  worship  or  doctrine,  but 
only  to  a  pecuniary  contribution  for  the  supply  of  outward 
means.  This  will  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  case."  ^ 
Such  is  substantially  the  existing  law  with  respect  to  dis- 
senters. Members  of  the  Establishment  may  be  still  com- 
pelled to  attend  the  parish  church  ;  for  "  no  person  can  be 
duly  discharged  from  attending  his  own  parish  church,  or 
warranted  in  resorting  to  another,  unless  he  be  first  duly 
licensed  by  his  ordinary,  who  is  the  proper  judge  of  the 
reasonableness  of  his  request."  ^  By  3  James  I.  cap.  4, 
"  Persons  not  attending  common  prayer,  according  to  1 
Eliz.  cap.  2,  are  to  be  distrained  for  twelve-pence,  and  in 
default  of  distress  are  to  be  commifted  to  prison  till  pay- 
ment is  made."  By  23  EHz.  cap.  1,  "Every  person 
above  the  age  of  sixteeen  years  who  shall  not  repair  to 
some  church,  chapel,  or  usual  place  of  common  prayer, 
....  shall  forfeit  to  the  queen  201.  per  month."  And  by 
31  Geo.  III.  cap.  32,  "All  the  laws  made  and  provided 
for  frequenting  divine  service  on  the  Lord's  day,  commonly 
called  Sunday,  shall  be  still  in  force,  and  executed  against 
all  persons  who  shall  offend  against  the  said  laws."  ^  But 
though  these  acts  are  still  in  force  against  negligent  mem- 
bers of  the  Establishment,  dissenters  are  exempt  frorai  their 
application. 

Great  improvements  have  likewise  been  effected  in  the 
tithe-laws.  Till  recently,  any  person  withholding  his  tithe 
might  by  the  2  and  3  Ed.  VI.  cap.  13,  be  sued  in  the 
ecclesiastical  court :  "  And  if  the  ecclesiastical  judge  gave 
any  sentence,  and  the  party  condemned  did  not  obey  the 
said  sentence,  it  was  lawful  to  every  such  judge  to  excom- 
municate the  said  party  ;   and  after  forty  days,  the  judge 

*  Lectures  on  the  Church  of  England,  pp.  181,  182. 

"  Burn,  vol.  iii.  p.  406.  ^  lb.  p.  408. 


178  THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

might  require  from  the  court  of  Chancery  process  de  excom- 
niunicato  ca'piendo  to  be  awarded  against  him  ;  in  other 
words,  might  cause  him  to  be  arrested  and  imprisoned."  ^ 
But  by  recent  tithe-acts,  a  corn-rent,  or  rent-charge,  pay- 
able in  money  and  permanent  in  quantity,  though  fluctu- 
ating in  value,  is  substituted  for  all  tithes  in  England  and 
Wales.2  And  by  6  and  7  Will.  IV.  cap.  71,  "When 
the  rent-charge  is  in  arrear  for  twenty-one  days  after  the 
half-yearly  days  of  payment,  the  person  entitled  thereto 
may  distrain."  ^ 

The  law  of  church-rates  is  similar.  <«  The  repair  of  the 
fabric  of  the  church  is  a  duty  which  the  parishioners  are 
compelled  to  perform.  The  parishioners  have  no  more 
power  to  throw  off  the  burden  of  the  repair  of  the  church 
than  that  of  the  repair  of  bridges  and  highways.^  .  .  .  The 
spiritual  court  has  power  and  jurisdiction,  by  ecclesiastical 
censures,  to  compel  the  churchwardens  to  perform  their 
duty  in  relation  to  the  repairs  of  the  church,  to  compel 
parishioners  to  perform  their  duty  in  providing  means  for 
making  such  repairs,  and  after  a  legal  rate  has  been  im- 
posed to  compel  each  individual  to  contribute  the  sum 
assessed  upon  him."^  And,  by  53  George  III.  cap.  127, 
«'  If  any  one  duly  rated  to  a  church-rate  shall  refuse  or 
neglect  to  pay  the  same  sum  at  which  he  is  so  rated,  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  any  one  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  same 
county  where  the  church  is  situated  to  convene  before  any 
two  or  more  such  justices  any  person  so  refusing,  and  by 
order  under  their  hands  to  direct  the  payment  of  what  is 
due,  so  as  the  sum  do  not  exceed  1 0/.  over  the  costs  ;  and 
upon  refusal  to  pay,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  any  one  of  such 
justices  by  warrant  to  levy  the  money  by  distress  and  sale 
of  the  goods  of  such  offender." 

Thus,  although  persons  may  not  now  be  imprisoned  for 
conscientiously  objecting  to  the  union  between  Church  and 
State,  yet  tithe-payers  and  rate-payers  are  compelled  by 
law  to  maintain  the  pastors  and  to  repair  the  buildings 
which  they  use  for  worship.      These  payers  may  generally 

1  Burn,  hi.  750.  ^  lb.  p.  698.  »  lb.  p.  733,  margin. 

*  lb.  i.  338,  339.         ^  lb.  p.  388,  ',  «". 


ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  COERCION.  179 

be  divided  into  five  classes — the  devout  members  of 
churches,  worldly  and  thoughtless  members,  evangelical 
dissenters,  Roman  Catholics,  and  unbelievers.  Let  us 
consider  the  effect  of  compulsory  payments  upon  each  of 
these  classes. 

1 .  Devout  and  pious  persons  cheerfully  comply  with  the 
demands  of  the  law  to  support  pious  ministers,  because 
they  would,  without  the  law,  cheerfully  pay  more  than  they 
do  now  to  support  them.  But  the  compulsory  system  has 
occasioned  two  great  evils  with  respect  to  this  class.  1 .  It 
has  entirely  obscured  and  hidden  from  the  world  the  liber- 
ality with  which  they,  in  obedience  to  Christ's  commands, 
would  maintain  their  pastors,  because  their  present  pay- 
ments are  made  under  compulsion  of  law.  Five  thousand 
pastors,  maintained  by  the  zeal  and  generosity  of  the  An- 
glican Churches,  would  be  an  impressive  proof  of  their 
faith  and  love,  but  sixteen  thousand  pastors,  maintained  by 
compulsion  of  law,  are  no  proof  of  faith  and  love  in  the 
payer  whatsoever.  2.  The  majority  of  the  pastors  are 
worldly  men,  who,  according  to  Christ's  law,  ought  not  to 
be  pastors  at  all ;  and,  in  all  these  cases,  pious  members 
of  a  church  are  compelled  to  expend  on  the  maintenance 
of  an  ungodly  pastor  the  money  by  which,  if  free,  they 
might  have  secured  a  faithful  one. 

2.  Wordly  members  of  churches,  being  often  reluctant 
to  pay  their  pastors'  dues,  have  frequent  occasions  of  con- 
tention with  their  pastors,  sometimes  respecting  the  amount 
of  the  payments,  and  sometimes  on  account  of  arrears. 
Such  altercations,  while  they  last,  defeat  the  object  for 
which  the  ministry  has  been  established,  and  tend  to  alien- 
ate the  pastor  and  the  people  from  each  other.  That  he 
might  not  lessen  his  influence  as  a  minister,  Paul  at  Corinth 
refused  to  receive  even  spontaneous  contributions  from  the 
church  (1  Cor.  ix.  12),  but  Anghcan  ministers,  to  the 
destruction  of  their  influence,  compel  their  hearers,  by  pro- 
cess of  law,  to  pay  what  is  due.  Law  and  custom  have 
so  blinded  men's  minds,  that  in  culpable  disregard  to  the 
example  of  an  inspired  apostle,  the  ministers  of  Christ  se- 
cure their  interest  to  the  ruin  of  their  usefulness. 


180   THE  UNION  CONDEMNED  BY  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

3.  Evangelical  dissenters  often  complain  that  these  com- 
pulsory payments  are  mijust,  1.  because,  objecting  to  the 
union  of  Church  and  State,  they  are  compelled  to  support 
what  they  condemn ;  2,  because  they  are  compelled  to 
support  the  pastors  of  others,  whose  ministry  is  of  no  ser- 
vice to  them ;  3.  because,  being  much  poorer  than  the 
Anglican  Churches,  they  are  compelled  to  make  a  double 
payment,  first  for  the  pastors  of  the  Anglicans,  secondly, 
for  their  own.  The  advocates  of  the  Establishment  reply, 
that  for  a  great  national  object  all  must  be  taxed  alike,  and 
that  if  they  choose  to  support  a  second  set  of  pastors,  this 
is  entirely  the  result  of  their  own  fancy.  But  how  can 
this  answer  satisfy  the  dissenter  ?  Believing  the  union  to 
be  wrong,  and  that  the  Anglican  churches  would  be  more 
effective  if  they  ceased  to  be  established,  he  can  not  but 
feel  that  the  tax  laid  upon  him  to  support  that  mischievous 
union  is  both  burdensome  and  unjust.  But  when  he  labors 
for  its  removal,  the  advocates  of  the  union  resent  this  as  an 
injury,  and  hence  perpetual  strife  is  occasioned  among  the 
servants  of  Christ. 

4.  Roman  Catholics  and  unbelievers  have,  of  course, 
similar  objections,  and  may  well  feel  it  to  be  a  hardship  to 
be  compelled  to  support  what  one  believes  to  be  heresy, 
what  the  other  pronounces  to  be  delusion,  and  both  ima- 
gine to  be  mischievous.  If  an  Anglican  minister  would 
preach  to  these  two  classes,  the  slightest  regard  to  the 
success  of  his  mission  should  prompt  him  to  refuse  their 
contributions.  So  the  first  ministers  of  Christ  did,  as  we 
learn  from  the  following  passage  in  the  third  epistle  of  St. 
John  : — "  Beloved,  thmi  doest  faithfidly  ivliatsoever  thou 
doest  to  the  brethren  and  to  strangers  ;  tvhich  have  borne 
tvitness  of  thy  charity  before  the  church :  ivhom,  if  thou 
bring  forward  on  their  jour7iey  after  a  godly  sort,  thou 
shall  do  well;  because  that,  for  his  name's  sake,  they 
went  forth  taking  nothing  of  the  Gentiles.''  Compelled 
to  support  a  doctrine  which  they  repudiate,  both  Roman 
Catholics  and  unbelievers  must  become  still  more  alienated 
from  it  and  from  its  ministers,  whose  ministrations  must 
necessarily  become  sterile,  and  their  mission  a  failure. 


ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  COERCION.  181 

By  this  system  the  ears  of  the  irrehgious  population,  in 
general,  are  closed  against  the  established  ministers,  because 
they  see  that  the  poorer  classes  pay  for  the  pastors  of  the 
rich  ;  that  the  many  pay  for  the  pastors  of  the  few  ;  and 
that  those  who  protest  against  their  ministry  have  to  pay 
no  less  than  those  who  use  it.  This,  as  much  as  any  other 
cause,  has  alienated  the  Irish  against  Protestantism.  To 
make  dissenters  and  Roman  Catholics  pay  for  the  pastor 
of  the  neighboring  noble  and  his  tenantry,  is  the  same 
thing  as  to  make  them  pay  for  his  lawyer  or  his  physician ; 
and  to  allege  that  it  is  in  pursuance  of  a  system  which  is 
advantageous  to  the  country,  no  more  carries  conviction  to 
their  minds  in  the  one  case  than  it  would  in  the  two  others. 

The  ends  for  which  Christ  has  instituted  the  ministry 
is,  that  evangelists,  by  turning  sinners  from  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God,  may  save  their  souls,  and  that  pastors  may 
build  up  the  disciples  of  Christ  in  faith  and  piety.  For 
these  ends  it  is  necessary  that  they  should  love  and  be 
loved  :  for  men  will  not  listen  to  those  whom  they  despise 
or  hate.  St.  Paul,  therefore,  jealously  avoided  whatever 
could  impair  either  the  esteem  or  the  affection  of  his  hearers. 
For  this  he  maintained  so  contented  a  temper  at  Ephesus, 
that  he  could  say,  "  I  have  coveted  no  man's  silver,  or 
gold,  or  apparel ;"  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  was  so 
poor  that  he  could  add,  "  Ye  yourselves  know  that  these 
hands  have  ministered  unto  my  necessities,  and  to  them 
that  were  with  me."  ^  To  the  Corinthians,  too,  among 
whom  he  feared  that  his  motives  would  be  mistaken,  and 
his  ministry  hindered,  if  he  should  accept  any  money  from 
them,  he  made  the  following  profession  : — "  I  will  not  be 
burdensome  to  you  :  for  I  seek  not  yours  but  you.  And  I 
will  very  gladly  spend  and  be  spent  for  you."^  These 
precedents  seem  to  me  to  furnish  rules  for  all  Christian 
ministers,  who  can  not  have  stronger  reasons  for  exacting 
a  maintenance  from  reluctant  hearers  than  he  had.  But 
by  our  system  pastors  are  made  collectors  of  a  tax,  and 
share  in  the  odium  which  usually  falls  upon  the  tax-gath- 
erer.     But  with  this  important  difference,  that  other  tax- 

*  Acts  XX.  33,  34.  *  2  Cor.  xii.  14,  15. 


182  CONCLUSION  OF  THE  FIRST  PART. 

gatherers  collect  for  the  use  of  the  government,  while 
Anglican  pastors  collect  for  themselves.  They  seize  the 
goods  of  their  brethren  by  distraint,  or  compel  them  to  pay 
by  the  fear  of  that  process  :  shepherds  give  up  their  sheep 
to  be  worried  by  justices  of  the  peace  for  church-rates,  the 
pastor  is  forgotten  in  the  rector,  the  ends  of  the  ministry  are 
sacrificed  to  questionable  means,  interminable  schisms  rend 
the  churches,  and  the  evangelization  of  the  ungodly  ceases. 
Under  the  Mosaic  law,  which  was  a  system  of  minute 
detail  and  of  rigid  exaction,  priests  could  not  compel  the 
Israelites  to  pay  their  tithes,  nor  could  monarchs  enact 
tithe-laws  in  their  behalf;  but  we,  under  the  Gospel, 
which  is  a  message  of  salvation,  the  whole  character  of 
which  is  charity  and  good- will  to  man,  authorize  the  pastor 
to  compel  his  reluctant  hearers  to  pay  him  for  bringing  to 
them  Christ's  message.  The  rule  of  payment  established 
by  the  apostle  is,  "  Every  7nan,  as  he  purposeth  in  his 
lieart,  so  let  him  give,  not  grudgingly  or  of  necessity,  for 
God  loveth  a  cheer  fid  giver  T'^  The  Anglican  rule  is — 
"  Every  man  according  as  the  law  prescribes,  let  him  pay, 
however  grudgingly,  for  the  rector  shall  have  his  right." 
It  is  Christ's  declared  will  that  the  hearers  should  pay  the 
teacher  spontaneously  and  generously,  from  a  regard  to 
justice,  and  from  a  feeling  of  gratitude,  '' Let  him  that  is 
taught  in  the  ivord  communicate  to  him  tliat  teacheth  in 
all  good  things.''  ^  But  it  is  the  will  of  the  State  that  all 
the  parishioners  who  are  not  hearers  should  pay  the  teach- 
er against  whom  they  protest,  and  thus  take  the  burden 
from  the  hearers  who  ought  to  bear  it.  Common  justice 
and  common  sense  are  alike  disregarded  by  the  arrange- 
ment, and  the  ends  of  the  pastoral  office  are  sacrificed  to 
the  means  of  maintaining  the  pastor. 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  FIRST  PART. 

Let   us   now   recapitulate  what   has   been   said.      The 
union   between  the  Church  and  the  State  in  any  coun- 
»  2  Cor.  ix.  7.  '  Gal.  vi.  6. 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  FIRST  PART.  183 

try,  involving  as  it  does,  the  subordination  of  the  Church 
to  the  State,  is  unprincipled,  absurd,  and  mischievous. 
The  State  being  the  world,  it  is  a  close  alhance  between 
the  church  and  the  world — which  Christ  has  forbidden. 
The  Church  being  in  spiritual  things  the  parent,  and  the 
State  its  child,  it  is  an  unnatural  subordination  of  the 
parent  to  the  child.  History  abundantly  condemns  it  as 
uniformly  hostile  to  spiritual  religion  ;  and  it  is  condemned 
by  the  provisions  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  by  the  language 
of  the  Hebrew  prophets,  and  by  the  express  declarations  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles. 

The  union  of  the  Churches  with  the  State  in  this  country, 
rests  upon  four  main  principles — the  legal  maintenance  of 
the  pastors,  the  supremacy  of  the  State,  patronage,  and 
compulsion.  In  supporting  this  union,  Christians  who  are 
charged  by  the  authority  of  Christ  to  support  their  own 
pastors,  have  devolved  this  duty  upon  the  State  ;  and  being 
bound  to  interpret  and  enforce  Christ's  laws  for  themselves, 
they  have  committed  to  the  State,  that  is  to  the  world,  the 
right  to  superintend  them  ;  thus  allowing  the  supremacy 
of  the  world  to  encroach  upon  the  supremacy  of  Christ. 
It  is  Christ's  declared  will  that  they  should  select  their 
pastors  with  the  greatest  care,  according  to  the  direction 
which  he  has  left  for  this  purpose  ;  and  they  have  left  the 
nomination  of  their  pastors  to  others,  who  are  for  the  most 
part  men  of  the  world,  not  reserving  to  themselves  even  the 
liberty  of  objecting  to  the  intrusive  nominee.  And  while 
every  offering  to  God  should  be  free,  and  Christian  minis- 
ters ought  to  receive  no  contribution  which  can  hinder 
their  usefulness,  Anglican  Christians  allow  the  State  to 
alienate  thousands  from  the  Gospel  by  compelling  them  to 
pay  for  the  support  of  good  and  bad  pastors  indiscriminately 
on  pain  of  the  spoliation  of  their  goods.  The  support  of 
the  first  of  these  principles  of  the  union  involves  Anglican 
Christians  in  the  guilt  of  a  selfish  and  covetous  disregard 
of  positive  duty.  Their  allowance  of  the  State  supremacy 
is  infidelity  to  Christ,  their  King  and  Head.  The  third 
principle  which  they  support  is  destructive  of  their  spiritual 
welfare  ;  and  the  fourth  renders  them  schismatical  toward 


184  CONCLUSION  OF  THE  FIRST  PART. 

their  dissenting  brethren,  and  uncharitable  to  every  other 
recusant.  All  these  four  principles  are  unscriptural,  cor- 
rupt, and  noxious  ;  and  by  placing  the  churches  of  Christ 
under  the  influence  of  men  of  the  world,  hinder  their  free 
action,  destroy  their  spirituality,  and  perpetuate  their  cor- 
ruptions. 

Were  this  union  to  be  now  for  the  first  time  proposed  to 
Christian  men,  I  believe  there  is  scarcely  one  who  would 
not  instantly  repudiate  it.  Custom  alone  can  account  for 
its  continuance.  Christians  have  been  familiar  with  it 
from  their  infancy  ;  romantic  associations  are  connected  with 
it ;  a  thousand  times  they  have  heard  it  termed  venerable  ; 
few  ever  study  the  directions  of  the  word  of  God  upon  that 
subject ;  governments,  patrons,  prelates,  incumbents,  and 
expectants,  are  all  interested  in  its  stability  ;  and  numbers 
belonging  to  a  large  political  party  dread  all  innovations, 
and  especially  those  which  would  strengthen  the  popular 
element  in  any  of  our  institutions.  Erroneous  opinions, 
eagerly  embraced  and  assiduously  reiterated,  invest  it  with 
an  air  of  sacredness.  And  many  who  resolutely  shut  their 
eyes  to  the  evils  which  it  entails,  and  who  close  their  ears 
against  all  expositions  of  its  corruption,  applaud  even  the 
blindest  and  most  headlong  of  its  advocates  ;  glorify  with 
their  hosannas  reagonings  which  are  palpably  weak  ;  sus- 
tain their  tottering  cause  by  expositions  of  Scripture  which 
are  worthy  of  Rome  itself;  misrepresent  the  scriptural  sys- 
tem which  should  replace  it ;  predict  the  most  doleful  re- 
sults from  changes  which  would  occasion  a  general  revival 
of  rehgion  ;  cry  "  Ichabod,"  when  they  should  shout  as 
David  when  he  anticipated  the  erection  of  the  temple, 
"  Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates  ;  and  be  ye  lift  up,  ye 
everlasting  doors  ;  and  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  in  ;" 
appeal  to  martyrs  of  ancient  date  who,  if  their  gigantic  en- 
ergies could  once  more  do  battle  on  the  earth,  would  gal- 
lantly lead  on  the  army  of  the  second  reformation  ;  and 
when  all  reasons  fail  for  their  adherence  to  a  system  which 
is  incurably  corrupt,  oppose  to  all  reasoning  their  unalter- 
able resolution,  and  rise  to  a  sort  of  heroism  by  nailing 
their  colors  to  the  mast  in  defense  of  that  which  every 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  FIRST  PART.  185 

enlightened  man  would  seek  by  the  help  of  God  to  over- 
throw. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  little  band  M^ho,  with 
less  courage  than  the  crisis  demands,  investigate  their  duty 
in  the  word  of  God,  are  called  more  resolutely  and  more 
perseveringly  to  summon  the  churches  of  Christ  to  accom- 
plish their  Redeemer's  will.  Let  them  demand,  on  behalf 
of  Christ,  that  the  churches  of  this  land  substitute  persua- 
sion for  compulsion  in  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of 
God  ;  that  they  receive  no  pastors  but  those  whom  the 
word  of  God  sanctions  ;  that  they  maintain  the  sovereignty 
of  Christ,  by  claiming  the  right  of  unrestricted  submission 
to  all  his  laws  ;  and  that  they  support  their  own  pastors 
according  to  his  will. 

Should  we  in  this  cause  meet  with  some  rude  assaults, 
the  cause  is  worth  the  conflict.  The  humble  tomb  at 
Thermopylae  speaks  more  to  the  generous  traveler  than  the 
sky-pointing  pyramids.  For  wheij  the  three  hundred 
Spartans  stood  on  the  narrow  causeway  between  Mount 
CEta  and  the  sea,  to  guard  the  liberties  of  their  country 
against  an  innumerable  host  of  invaders,  resolved  to  die 
rather  than  yield,  they  did  that  which  will  live  in  the 
hearts  of  brave  men  while  the  world  lasts.  And  the  lib- 
erties of  Christ's  churches  are  more  precious  than  the  civil 
Hberties  of  Greece.  Let  each  minister,  and  each  Christian, 
who  knows  that  the  principles  of  the  union  are  corrupt  and 
dishonorable  to  Christ,  resolve  that  they  will  terminate  the 
bondage  of  the  Anglican  churches  by  destroying  it,  and, 
with  the  aid  of  God,  they  will  at  last  succeed. 


PART    II. 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION. 

Having  sHomti  that  the  principles  of  the  union  are  un- 
scriptural  and  corrupt,  I  might  consider  my  task  accom- 
pHshed,  and  ask  my  Christian  brethren  to  labor  with  me 
for  its  removal.  No  good  effects  can  justify  what  is  evil 
in  principle,  and  every  Christian  should  seek  to  destroy  the 
union  because  it  is  criminal,  without  waiting  to  survey  its 
consequences.  The  effect,  moreover,  of  what  is  evil  in 
principle  can  never  be  ultimately  good.  Sooner  or  later, 
bad  principles  are  sure  to  work  bad  results  ;  and  when  any 
measure,  as  the  union,  has  been  shown  to  be  criminal,  all 
practical  men  ought  to  condemn  it  as  certain  to  be  at 
length  mischievous.  But  few  persons  value  simple  princi- 
ple .as  it  deserves.  Numbers,  on  the  contrary,  test  every 
principle  by  its  results  ;  and  so  long  as  the  effects  of  any 
established  custom  are  not  palpably  injurious,  they  will 
blind  their  eyes  to  all  its  violations  of  principle.  Foreign- 
ers say  that  this  is  particularly  the  weakness  of  English- 
men, who  are  eminently  utilitarians,  and  will  seldom  move 
earnestly  on  any  subject  which  does  not  conduct  immedi- 
ately to  important  consequences. 

This  being  the  case,  I  will  proceed  to  consider  the 
effects  of  the  union  on  persons  and  on  things,  that 
those  persons  who  have  accustomed  themselves  to  judge  of 
measures  chiefly  by  their  results,  may  see  what  cause 
we  have,  as  Christians,  to  wish  for  a  dissolution  of  the 
union. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

I  NOW  proceed  to  consider  the  disastrous  influence  of  the 
union  upon  prelates,  pastors,  and  curates,  upon  members 
of  the  Anglican  Churches,  and  upon  dissenters,  all  of  whom 
suffer  great  mischief  from  that  ill-principled  compact  of  the 
Churches  v/ith  the  State,  to  which  our  reformers,  in  days 
of  partial  knowledge  and  of  rude  conflict,  weakly  assented, 
because  they  were  glad  to  bribe  the  State  for  its  support 
against  their  gigantic  and  implacable  Roman  foe. 

Section  I. — Influence  of  the  Union  ujpon  Bishops. 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  appointed  pastors  and 
teachers  ^  to  convert  the  ungodly,^  to  feed  his  flock  as  his 
under-shepherds,^  to  build  up  Christians  in  their  faith, ^ 
and  to  be  instrumentally  the  cause  of  salvation  to  their 
hearers.^  For  this  end  to  set  them  high  examples  of 
piety, ^  to  be  lovers  of  good  men,  sober,  just,  holy,  temper- 
ate, holding  fast  the  faithful  word,'''  and  to  be  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  wisdom.^  But  whatever  excellence 
is  required  in  the  pastor  of  a  church,  must  be  much  more 
requisite  in  those  who  assume  the  office  of  pastor  of  pastors. 
Prelacy  can  be  useful  only  when  the  prelate,  surpassing 
the  pastors  whom  he  governs,  employs  his  immense  influ- 
ence to  render  them  wiser  and  better  men.  To  fulfill  his 
oflice  rightly  he  must  be  more  free  than  his  brethren  from 
ambition  and  covetousness,  more  spiritually-minded,  more 

^  Eph.  iv.  11  ;   1  Cor.  xii.  28.  ^  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 

3  Acts  XX.  28;   1  Pet.  v.  2.  *  Eph.  iv.  12. 

«  1  Tim.  iv.  16.  ^1  Tim.  iv.  12;  1  Pet.  v.  3. 

'  Tit.  i.  8,  9.  «  Acts  vi.  3. 


188    EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

devoted  to  his  ministry,  more  anxious  to  bring  sinners  to 
Christ,  more  brotherly  and  Uberal  to  his  fellow- Christians, 
more  zealous  for  the  honor  of  his  Master,  more  entirely 
consecrated  to  God.  As  a  pastor  who  is  less  pious  than 
the  members  of  the  church  over  which  he  presides,  does 
them  mischief,  because  his  ministrations  tend  to  bring  them 
down  to  his  level ;  so  a  prelate  less  pious  than  the  pastors 
whom  he  governs,  inflicts  on  them  a  similar  mischief 
His  duty  to  them  is  what  theirs  is  to  the  churches.  He 
has  to  convert  unconverted  ministers,  to  guide  the  erring, 
to  reclaim  the  backsliding,  to  animate  the  despondent,  to 
strengthen  the  weak,  to  encourage  and  aid  the  most  de- 
voted. To  accomplish  these  objects,  he  must  surpass  them 
in  wisdom  and  Christian  experience,  in  faith  and  fervency, 
in  meekness  and  self-control,  in  holiness  and  spirituality  of 
mind.  Like  Paul  he  should  be  able  to  say,  "  Be  ye  fol- 
lowers of  me,  even  as  I  also  am  of  Christ."^  "Be  fol- 
lowers together  of  me,  and  mark  them  which  walk  so,  as 
ye  have  us  for  an  example."^ 

To  an  ofiice  like  this  a  man  ought  to  be  chosen,  with 
exclusive  reference  to  his  spiritual  qualifications,  by  pious 
men,  with  the  utmost  caution  and  with  the  most  solemn 
prayer.  When  the  church  at  Jerusalem  chose  Matthias 
as  one  of  those  most  suitable  to  succeed  the  apostate  Judas 
in  his  place  as  an  apostle,  they  then  sought  the  guidance  of 
God.^  And  when  Paul  was  set  apart  for  his  mission  to 
the  Gentiles  by  the  presbyters  of  Antioch,  they  fulfilled 
that  duty  with  fasting  and  prayer.'*  And  even  our  Lord, 
before  he  chose  his  twelve  apostles,  spent  the  whole  night 
in  prayer.^  With  no  less  solemnity,  earnestness,  and  de- 
pendence upon  God,  should  pious  men  choose  those  prelates 
who  exercise  so  vast  an  influence  in  the  Anglican  Churches 
for  good  or  evil.  But  ministers  of  State  are  little  likely  to 
choose  them  in  this  manner.  Since  prelates  have  votes  in 
Parliament,  where  parties  are  often  nearly  equal,  the  most 
religious  statesmen  are  strongly  tempted  to  make  zeal  foi' 
their  political  party  a  leading  qualification  for  a  bishopric  ; 

^  1  Cor.  xi.  1.  '  Phil.  iii.  17  ;  see  also  Acts  xx.  20,  31-35. 

^  Acts  i.  ■*  Acts  xiii.  3.  ^  Luke  vi.  12. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  BISHOPS.       189 

and,  secondly,  since  prime-ministers  are  usually  the  ablest 
men  of  their  party,  chosen,  without  reference  to  religious 
character,  for  their  knowledge  of  public  affairs  and  their 
administrative  skill,  they  have  often  been  destitute  of  piety. 
Hence  men  have  often  been  raised  to  the  bench  from  party 
considerations  :  the  choice  of  the  nominee  being  determined 
by  the  wish  to  please  a  powerful  adherent,  or  to  strengthen 
the  party  by  the  accession  of  a  debater  of  known  capacity, 
not  to  mention  more  questionable  motives.  The  way  to 
rise  is  obvious.  Let  any  cleric  of  fair  abilities,  who  aspires 
to  rank  and  power,  be  respectable  but  not  over  religious, 
make  himself  a  good  scholar,  write  some  work  of  literary 
merit,  be  a  moderate  but  firm  supporter  of  the  party  in 
power,  express  no  opinions  on  any  subject  which  could  be 
inconvenient  to  the  Government,  be  a  foe  to  innovation 
without  being  unfriendly  to  improvements  of  detail,  culti- 
vate the  friendship  both  of  powerful  families  and  influen- 
tial prelates,  be  a  stanch  but  goo4-tempered  supporter  of 
the  church  against  dissent  ;  above  all,  be  a  safe  man,  who 
neither  in  the  administration  of  a  diocese,  nor  in  any  par- 
liamentary business,  would  create  embarrassment  to  the 
government,  and  he  may  be  almost  sure  of  reaching  the 
highest  honors  of  his  profession.      I  will  not  say — 

'=  That  he 
Must  serve  who  fain  would  sway ;  and  soothe  and  sue 
And  watch  all  time,  and  pry  into  all  place, 
And  be  a  living  lie — who  would  become 
A  mighty  thing  among  the  mean  ;" 

but  a  course  too  near  to  this  has  often  led  to  greatness. 
Governments  can  count  upon  the  services  of  pliant  men 
who  never  form  inconvenient  opinions  ;  but  they  would  be 
exposed  to  trouble  should  they  nominate  any  man  who, 
with  severe  integrity  and  ardent  love  of  truth,  will  frankly 
express  his  convictions,  and  manifest  the  least  approach  to 
the  temper  of  a  reformer. 

If,  likewise,  the  first  minister  of  the  Crown,  and  the 
lord  chancellor,  who  chiefly  determine  the  appointments, 
happen  to  be  irreligious  men,  then  though  they  may  be 
moral  and  estimable  men,  they  can  not  appreciate  the  spir- 


190         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

itual  qualifications  which  alone  should  direct  their  choice. 
Christ  has  said  of  his  disciples  :  ''If  ye  ivere  of  the  world, 
the  luorlcl  ivoiild  love  his  oivn  ;  but  because  ye  are  not  of 
the  world,  but  I  have  cliosen  you  out  of  the  world,  there- 
fore the  ivorld  hateth  you  ;"  ^  and  Paul  has  added  :  "  The 
natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Sjnrit  of 
God  ;  for  they  are  foolishiiess  unto  him  ;  neither  can  he 
know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned.'"^ 
'' Therefo7-e,"  adds  St.  John,  ''the  world  knoweth  tcs  not 
because  it  kneiv  him  not."'  ^  As  long  as  these  statements 
remain  true,  unconverted  ministers  of  the  Crown,  how- 
ever estimable  and  able  they  may  be,  are  likely  to  consider 
the  spirituality  of  mind  and  the  love  for  evangelical  truth 
which,  according  to  Scripture,  are  essential  to  the  pastor, 
and  therefore  much  more  to  the  prelate,  a  disqualification 
for  the  bench.  Under  the  influence  which  public  opinion 
has  acquired,  we  shall  not  see  again  such  a  ministry  as 
that  which  was  composed  of  Clifibrd,  ArUngton,  Bucking- 
ham, Ashley,  and  Lauderdale  ;  nor  will  many  chancellors, 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  rival  Lord  Jeffreys  in  profligacy  ;  but  the 
mere  possibility  of  such  men  appointing  prelates,  whose  all- 
controlling  and  plastic  influence  over  the  clergy  justifies 
their  usual  appellation  of  the  heads  of  the  church,  is  an 
evil  which  the  Anglican  Churches  should  not  tolerate. 
But  premiers,  far  more  respectable  than  Buckingham,  and 
chancellors  less  profligate  than  Jeftreys,  would  select  for 
the  prelacy  decent  worldly  men  in  preference  to  men  of 
evangelical  earnestness.  In  the  late  ecclesiastical  struggle 
in  Scotland  the  moderates  were  much  more  in  favor  with 
the  government  than  the  evangelicals  ;  and  our  history 
has  shown  that  a  similar  class  in  England  has  been  gener- 
ally preferred  by  successive  ministers  of  State.  I  rejoice 
to  declare  my  conviction,  that  the  present  prime-minister  is 
conscientious  in  his  appointments,  and  has  advanced  men 
of  great  worth.  I  gladly  express  the  great  respect  which 
I  feel  for  several  prelates  with  whom  I  have  the  honor  of 
being  acquainted,  especially  for  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, whose  elevation  to  that  high  oflSice  is  as  beneficial  to 
1  John  XV.  19.  *  1  Cor.  ii.  14.  M  john  iii.  1. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  BISHOPS.       191 

the  Church  of  England  as  it  is  creditable  to  Lord  John 
Russell.  But  I  write  not  respecting  individuals,  but  insti- 
tutions— of  what  has  been  and  will  be — of  the  course  of 
patronage  in  past  days  and  of  its  probable  course  in  days  to 
come.  "  I  am  a  happy  accident,"  said  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander to  Madame  de  Stael,  when  she  was  led  by  the  observ- 
ation of  his  personal  virtues  into  too  favorable  an  opinion  of 
the  atrocious  system  of  government  of  which  he  was  the  head. 
Lord  John  Russell  and  Dr.  Sumner  are  happy  accidents. 

While  thus  it  is  much  to  be  feared  that  a  succession  of 
worldly  statesmen,  as  in  past  times,  will  secure  a  succession 
of  worldly  prelates,  who,  being  exalted  to  posts  of  vast  in- 
fluence and  of  undefined  prerogative,  will  use  both  rather 
to  repress  spiritual  religion  than  to  promote  it,  no  dependence 
can  be  placed  on  the  use  of  the  conge  d'elire  by  the  deans 
and  chapters ;  for  if  they  refuse  to  elect  the  minister's  nom- 
inee, each  member  of  the  chapter  is  liable  to  the  intolerable 
penalties  of  a  prcsmunire.  He  is,  therefore,  never  rejected ; 
and  when,  duly  elected  and  presented  by  two  bishops  to  the 
archbishop,  he  makes  the  required  promises,  he  is  as  sure 
of  consecration  as  he  was  previously  of  election.  No  cases 
of  refusal  occur  ;  the  patronage  of  the  prime-minister  carries 
him  through  all  difficulties.  Each  successive  archbishop 
says  to  each  successive  nominee,  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost 
for  the  office  and  work  of  a  bishop  in  the  church  of  God 
now  committed  to  thee  by  the  imposition  of  our  hands." 
And  remember  that  thou  stir  up  the  grace  of  God 
which  is  given  thee  by  this  imposition  of  our  hands." 
Upon  which  the  nominee  is  numbered,  as  many  think, 
among  the  successors  of  the  apostles. 

When  Anglican  presbyters  are  thus  advanced  to  the 
prelacy  by  the  State,  the  influence  of  their  new  position 
must  be  dangerous  even  to  the  best  and  wisest  men. 

1.  They  are  first  put  by  the  State  in  possession  of  a 
palace  and  5000/.  per  annum.  Our  Lord  has  said,  "  ^4 
rich  man  shall  hardly  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ; 
it  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle, 
than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  khigdmn  of  God^  ^ 
1  Matt.  xix.  23,  24. 


192    EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

When  we  think  of  these  words  of  Christ  so  Uttle  considered, 
and  so  worthy  of  repeated  consideration,  we  must  see  that 
to  become  possessed  of  this  wealth — not  by  inheritance,  nor 
by  industry,  both  which  prepare  for  it,  and  in  some  meas- 
ure correct  its  influence,  but  by  sudden  donation — must  be 
dangerous  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  any  one. 

2.  In  the  next  place  they  are  made  peers.  Honor  is 
ensnaring,  and,  in  their  case,  adds  the  intoxication  of  great- 
ness to  that  of  wealth.  But  in  another  view  this  practice 
is  still  more  detrimental.  When  the  apostles  were  con- 
sulted respecting  the  administration  of  a  charitable  fund  at 
Jerusalem,  they  replied,  "  It  is  not  reason  that  we  should 
leave  the  tvord  of  God,  and  serve  tables  .*"  and  then,  hav- 
ing directed  the  church  to  choose  its  deacons,  they  added, 
"  But  we  will  give  ourselves  continually  to  'prayer,  and 
to  the  ministry  of  the  word^  ^  Timothy,  likewise,  was 
thus  directed  by  St.  Paul  with  respect  to  the  direct  duties 
of  his  ministry  :  "  Meditate  upon  these  things  ;  give  thy- 
self ivholly  to  them;  that  thy  profiting  may  appear  to  all. 
....  I? reach  the  ivord ;  he  instant  in  season,  out  of  seasmi; 
repi-ove,  rebuke,  exhort,  ivith  all  loyig-suffering  and  doc- 
trine  Watch  thou  in  all  things,  endure  affiictions, 

do  the  woi'k  of  an  evangelist,  make  full  proof  of  thy  7nin- 
istry^^  In  opposition  to  these  directions  our  prelates  are 
loaded  with  a  number  of  duties  in  their  dioceses,  which 
leave  little  leisure  or  inclination  to  "preach  the  word"  or 
to  "do  the  work  of  an  evangelist ;"  and  then  are  tempted 
to  make  themselves  accomplished  politicians  and  skillful  de- 
baters by  being  called  to  share  in  the  numerous  politico-relig- 
ious debates  which  now  occupy  the  attention  of  Parliament. 

3.  The  State  has  laid  another  snare  for  each  prelate. 
As  if  wealth  and  dignity,  aristocratic  associations  and 
political  excitement,  were  not  sufficient  obstacles  to  his 
humility  and  spirituahty  of  mind,  it  has  surrounded  him 
with  numbers  of  needy  clergymen,  and  invested  him  with 
a  large  amount  of  patronage.  The  archbishops  and  bishops 
of  England  and  Wales  have,  together,  1248  benefices  in 
their  gift,  besides  other  church  preferment.      The  Arch- 

^  Acts  vi.  2-4.  »  1  Tim.  iv.  15 ;  2  Tim.  iv.  2,  5. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  BISHOPS.       193 

bishop  of  Canterbury  presents  to  148  livings;  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  to  103  ;  the  Bishop  of  London,  to  86  ;  the 
Bishop  of  Norwich,  to  95  ;  the  Bishop  of  Lincohi,  to  156; 
the  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  to  102  ;  and  the  Bishop  of  St. 
Asaph,  to  120.^  While  this  patronage  tends  to  depress 
the  clergy  into  a  degrading  servility  of  temper,  it  tempts 
the  prelate  to  undue  self-exaltation,  and  is  likely  to  create 
in  him  an  impetuous  and  arbitrary  temper  toward  those 
who  so  much  depend  upon  his  favor  for  their  subsistence. 

4.  On  the  other  hand,  the  State  has  thrown  in  his  way 
an  opposite  temptation,  to  servility  toward  the  ministers 
of  the  crown,  by  offering  him  the  prospect  of  translation  to 
a  richer  see.  The  late  act,  6  and  7  Will.  IV.,  for  equal- 
izing the  revenues  of  the  sees  has  diminished  this  tempta- 
tion ;  but  still  the  sees  of  Winchester,  Durham,  and  Lon- 
don, of  York  and  of  Canterbury,  glitter  before  the  eyes  of 
those  who  are  nominated  by  the  minister  to  the  poorer  sees. 
The  evangelist  Timothy,  to  whose , position  Episcopalian 
writers  often  allude  as  illustrating  the  office  of  diocesans, 
received  from  the  apostle  Paul,  who  had  occasion  to  notice 
the  covetousness  and  the  self-indulgence  of  many,  the  fol- 
lowing advice  :  "  Having  food  and  raiment,  let  its  be 
thereivith  content.  But  they  that  will  be  rich  fall  into 
temptation  and  a  snare,  and  into  many  foolish  and  hurt- 
ful lusts,  ivhich  droivn  men  i7i  destruction  andj  perdition. 
For  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil;  which,  ivhile 
some  coveted  after,  they  have  erred  frmn  the  faith,  and 
pierced  themselves  through  ivith  many  sorroivs.  But 
thou,  O  man  of  God,  flee  these  things''  ^  In  the  presence 
of  these  apostolic  cautions  to  the  ministers  of  Christ,  the 
State  stimulates  the  curate  to  his  duty  by  the  prospect  of  a 
living,  the  incumbent  by  the  hope  of  a  prebendal  stall,  the 
prebendary  by  the  sight  of  a  deanery,  the  dean  by  the 
richer  prizes  of  a  bishopric,  and  the  bishop  by  visions  of 
Lambeth  and  of  Bishopsthorpe,  where  he  may  feel  on  a 
level  with  the  loftiest  and  the  proudest  of  the  realm. 

5.  The  duties  imposed  by  the  State  upon  the  bishop  are 
further  unfavorable   to  the   cultivation  of  a  liberal  spirit 

1  M'Culloch's  "Statistics,"  ii.  406.  ^  1  Tim.  vi.  8-11. 

I 


194         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNIOxX  UPON  PERSONS. 

toward  other  churches,  or  a  disposition  to  reform  his  own. 
Before  his  consecration  he  is  a  third  time  required  to  take 
the  oath  of  supremacy,  by  M^iich  he  consents  to  devolve 
the  spiritual  superintendence  of  the  Anglican  Churches 
upon  the  State  in  derogation  of  the  authority  of  Christ, 
which  State  supremacy  he  must,  of  course,  afterw^ard  de- 
fend. At  the  ordination  of  a  priest,  he  is  obliged  by  the 
State  to  say  to  the  kneeling  candidate,  "  Receive  the  Holy 
Ghost  for  the  office  and  work  of  a  priest  in  the  church  of 
God,  now  committed  to  thee  by  the  imposition  of  our  hands." 
That  these  words  are  words  not  of  prayer  but  of  power 
may  be  seen,  first,  from  the  form  of  the  expression  ;  se- 
condly, from  their  use  by  our  Lord  when  he  addressed 
them  to  his  apostles  ;  ^  thirdly,  from  the  words  which  fol- 
low them  in  the  ordination  service,  "  Whose  sins  thou  dost 
forgive  they  are  forgiven,  and  whose  sms  thou  dost  retain 
they  are  retained  ;"  and,  fourthly,  by  the  words  which 
follow  them  in  the  consecration  service,  "  Remember  that 
thou  stir  up  the  grace  of  God  which  is  given  thee  by  this 
imposition  of  our  hands."  Accordingly,  the  Bishop  of 
Oxford  has  thus  com.mented  upon  them  :  "  All  this  is  the 
most  blasphemous  frivolity,  if  it  be  not  the  deepest  truth. 
But  truth  it  is  :  the  self- same  truth  as  that  which  turned 
the  madness  of  that  upper  chamber  into  a  reality  which 
has  subdued  the  world.  Only  let  our  faith  lay  hold  of  it  : 
for  Christ  is  with  us  in  spiritual  presence  as  truly  as  he  was 
with  them."^  Thus  the  bishop,  like  Christ  the  eternal 
Son  of  God,  communicates  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  not 
to  apostles  already  devoted  to  Christ,  but  to  young  men, 
many  of  whom  are  so  frivolous,  it  may  be,  that  in  a  purer 
state  of  the  churches,  they  would  be  excluded  from  the 
table  of  the  Lord  as  sportsmen,  dancers,  and  card-players, 
or  semi-papal  Anglo-Catholics. 

This  dangerous  inflation  of  the  bishop  is  likely  to  be 
confirmed  by  the  prayer  which  the  State  obliges  him  to  use 
at  the  time  that  he  lays  his  hands  on  the  heads  of  the 
young  persons  who  kneel  down  to  him  at  confirmation. 

1  John  XX.  22,  23. 

*  Ordination  Sermon,  p.  24.     Rivingtons,  1846. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UrON  BISHOPS.       195 

That  the  Holy  Spirit  is  beUevcd  to  be  then  communicated 
by  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  prelates  who  have 
been  nominated  by  the  prime-minister,  and  forced  upon  the 
chapter  and  the  archbishop  by  the  terrors  of  a  lyrcEinunire, 
may  be  inferred  from  the  language  of  some  of  the  ablest  of 
our  prelates.  Thus,  in  an  "  Address  to  be  read  in  Church," 
preparatory  for  confirmation,  issued  by  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don this  year  (1848),  the  clergyman,  who  is  requested  by 
the  bishop  to  read  it  as  his  own  to  the  people,  is  made  to 
say,  "It  is  my  duty  to  exhort  the  younger  members  of  my 
flock,  who  are  of  age  to  understand  the  nature  of  those 
promises  which  were  made  for  them  at  their  baptism,  to 
embrace  that  opportunity  of  publicly  ratifying  and  confirm- 
ing the  same,  .  .  .  that  by  imposition  of  hands,  and  by 
prayer,  agreeably  to  the  practice  of  the  church  in  all  ages, 

THEY    MAY    OBTAIN     THE    BLESSING    OF    God's    HoLY    SpIFv.IT." 

Multitudes  of  children  are  brought  to  confirmation  by 
worldly  parents  and  by  worldly  ministers  ;  all  children  of 
parochial  schools,  above  a  certain  age,  are  sometimes  driven 
like  a  herd  of  cattle  to  confirmation.  I  have  seen  their 
undisguised  levity  at  the  time  of  the  ceremony  ;  I  have 
known  instances  in  the  country  in  which  the  ceremony  has 
been  made  the  occasion  of  holiday  merriment,  and,  I  fear, 
it  is  still  so  in  many  country  towns  and  villages.  The 
bishop  can  know  nothing  of  the  children  except  by  the 
testimony  of  clergymen,  who  may  be  themselves  ungodly, 
yet  he  is  compelled  by  the  State  to  say  of  all  those  hun- 
dreds and  thousands  of  children  who  crowd  to  have  his 
hands  laid  upon  them,  that  God  has  "  vouchsafed  to  regen- 
erate them  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  has  given  unto  them 
forgiveness  of  all  their  sins  ;"  and  that  he  lays  his  hands 
upon  them  "  to  certify  them  by  this  sign  of  God's  favor 
and  gracious  goodness  toward  them."  All  this  is  vastly 
inflating. 

Next,  the  State  requires  the  bishop  to  compel  his  clergy 
to  maintain  the  doctrine,  the  discipline,  and  the  mode  of 
worship  in  the  Church  of  England,  in  certain  questionable 
particulars.  If  any  minister  within  his  diocese  is  accused 
to  him  of  having  denied  any  one  of  the  thirty -nine  articles, 


196         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

of  having  violated  any  one  of  the  canons,  or  of  having 
deviated  from  the  rubric,  he  must  see  that  the  offense  be 
punished.  If  a  minister  should  be  accused  to  a  bishop  of 
denying  that  it  is  generally  lavi^ful  to  use  the  ministry  of 
evil  men,  the  bishop  must  maintain  against  him  the 
twenty-sixth  article,  which  asserts  its  lawfulness.  If  any 
minister  should  neglect  in  any  particular  to  observe  the 
ceremonies  prescribed  by  the  rubric,  however  obsolete  and 
inconvenient,  the  bishop,  upon  complaint  being  made,  must 
enforce  against  him  the  fourteenth  canon.  If  complaint  be 
made  to  a  bishop  that  a  minister  has  impeached  any  part 
of  the  regal  supremacy,  against  the  second  canon  ;  or  that 
he  has  declared  any  statement  of  the  prayer-book  to  be 
repugnant  to  Scripture,  against  the  fourth  canon  ;  or  that 
any  part  of  any  one  of  the  thirty-nine  articles  is  erroneous, 
against  the  fifth  canon  ;  or  that  any  dissenting  ministers 
with  their  hearers  constitute  Christian  churches,  against  the 
tenth  canon  ;  or  if  complaint  be  made  that  he  has  denied 
every  layman  in  the  parish  to  be  bound  to  receive  the 
Lord's  Supper  three  times  a  year,  against  the  twenty-second 
canon  ;  or  that  he  has  administered  the  Lord's  Supper  to 
avowed  dissenters,  or  to  any  who  scruple  to  kneel  at  it,  or 
to  persons  from  other  parishes,  against  the  twenty-seventh 
and  twenty-eighth  canons  ;  or  that  he  has  preached  in  any 
private  house,  against  the  seventy-first  canon  ;  or  that  he 
has  attended  any  clerical  meetings  for  the  reformation  of 
the  Establishment,  against  the  seventy-third  canon — the 
bishop  must  enforce  these  canons,  and  inflict  the  legal 
punishment  upon  the  offenders,  which  is,  in  other  words,  to 
be  the  agent  of  the  State  to  punish  good  men  for  doing 
their  duty.  All  this  the  bishop  is  compelled  to  do  by  the 
State,  because  the  Crown  alone  makes  the  canons  to  be 
binding  on  the  clergy,  and  the  State  alone  prevents  their 
revision. 

From  this  enumeration  of  some  of  the  functions  of  a 
prelate  imposed  by  the  State,  it  is  too  obvious  that  a  pastor 
suddenly  raised  by  the  fiat  of  the  premier  to  the  prelatic 
dignity  must  undergo  temptations  of  no  ordinary  force. 
How  can  one,  whose  position  was  so  humble,  become  at 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  BISHOPS.       19T 

once  so  lofty  without  giddiness  ?  That  smile  of  a  states- 
man has  made  him  at  once  a  peer,  the  master  of  a  palace, 
the  owner  of  a  lordly  revenue,  the  successor  of  apostles. 
Thenceforth  he  shines  in  Parliament,  and  moves  amid  the 
most  splendid  circles  of  the  wealthiest  nation  of  the  earth  ; 
or,  retiring  to  his  palace,  he  administers  within  its  baronial 
precincts  an  extended  patronage,  wields  an  absolute  scepter 
over  one-third  of  the  clergy,  and  by  an  indefinite  prerogative 
awes  and  controls  the  rest ;  meets  with  no  one  to  question 
his  opinions  or  contradict  his  will ;  and  may  look  along  a 
lengthened  vista  of  enjoyments  to  the  more  dazzling  splendor 
and  prerogatives  of  Lambeth.  If  a  man,  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, is  not  deteriorated,  he  must  have  extraordinary 
wisdom  and  virtue.  To  the  efficiency  of  most  men  as 
ministers  of  the  Gospel,  these  circumstances  would  be  fatal. 
They  would  cease  to  be  pastors  ;  their  preaching  would 
become  lordly,  heartless,  and  infrequent ;  and  they  would 
grow  worldly,  covetous,  self-indulgent^  proud,  and  imperious. 
If,  under  all  circumstances,  "it  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter 
the  kingdom  of  God,"  wealth,  dignity,  patronage,  and 
prerogative  thus  combining,  must  greatly  increase  the  dif- 
ficulty. 

Through  such  an  ordeal,  scarcely  the  best  men  in  the 
kingdom  could  pass  unscathed.  But,  to  make  the  matter 
worse,  wordly  statesmen  are,  in  general,  likely  to  create 
worldly  prelates,  and  to  expose  men  whose  tempers  are 
ambitious,  and  who  have  given  no  proofs  of  spirituality,  to 
temptations  strong  enough  to  corrupt  the  wisest  and  the 
most  devout. 

But  when  worldly  men  are  chosen  by  the  government, 
and  are  rendered  more  worldly  by  the  disadvantages  of 
their  position,  their  distribution  of  livings,  their  visitation 
charges,  their  circuits  for  confirmation,  their  private  inter- 
course with  the  clergy,  and  their  whole  influence,  must 
check  evangelical  religion,  and  add  to  the  numbers  of 
worldly  and  unsound  incumbents  throughout  the  land.  In 
injuring  the  religious  character  of  the  bishops,  the  union 
injures   the   character  of  the   churches   over  which   they 


198         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UFON  PERSONS. 

preside.  Pastors,  curates,  people,  all  catch  the  worldly 
taint ;  and  if  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  ministers 
of  the  Crown  will  ever  select  a  majority  of  unevangelical  and 
worldly  men  to  be  the  prelates  of  the  Establishment,  there 
k  reason  to  fear  that,  under  their  influence,  the  churches 
of  the  Establishment  will  remain,  like  them,  unevangelical 
and  worldly. 

Section  II. — Effects  of  the  Union  u^on  Pastors. 

The  word  ejnsmpos,  euiaKonog,  which  signifies  superin- 
tendent, overseer,  or  bishop,  is  used  five  times  in  the  New 
Testament.^  In  the  first  epistle  of  Peter  it  is  applied  to 
our  Lord  ;  in  the  other  four  places  it  is  applied  to  pastors 
of  congregations  :  it  is  never  in  the  New  Testament  applied 
to  a  diocesan  or  prelate.  The  word  episcoj)e,  enLOKOTTrj, 
occurs  twice  in  the  sense  of  bishopric,  or  the  office  of  super- 
intendent.^ Once  it  is  applied  to  Judas,  and  once  it  de- 
scribes the  office  of  a  pastor  ;  but  it  never  expresses  the 
office  of  a  diocesan  or  a  prelate.  And  the  word  e^nscopeo, 
enLaKOTTeo),  is  likewise  applied  to  the  exercise  of  the  pastoral 
office  ;  never  to  the  exercise  of  the  prelatic  office.^  When, 
therefore,  we  meet  with  this  word  in  the  New  Testament, 
we  must  apply  it  to  pastors  not  to  prelates. 

Our  Lord  has  indicated  the  qualifications  of  those  who 
may  be  chosen  as  episcopoi,  eniOKonoL,  pastors  of  churches, 
in  the  following  passages  : — 

'*  And  from  Miletus  he  sent  to  Ephesus,  and  called  the 
elders  of  the  church.  And  ivhen  they  ivere  come  to  him, 
he  said  unto  thon,  ....  Take  heed  to  yourselves  and  to 
all  the  flock,  over  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made 
you  overseers  (encaKonovg),  to  feed  the  church  of  God, 
which  he  liath  purchased  tvith  his  oivn  blood There- 
fore ivatch,  and  remember,  that  by  the  space  of  three  years 
I  ceased  not  to  ivarn  every  one  night  and  day  ivith  tears 
.  .  .  .  I  have  coveted  no  man's  silver,  or  gold,  or  apparel. 
Yea,  ye  yourselves  kncnv  that  these  hands  have  ministered 

1  Acts  XX.  28 ;  Phil.  i.  1  ;   1  Tim.  iii.  2 ;  Tit.  i,  7 ;   1  Pet.  ii.  25. 
*  Acts  i.  20;  1  Tim.  iii.  1.  M  Pet.  v.  2. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.   199 

imto  mij  necessities,  and  to  them  that  ivere  ivith  me.  I 
have  showed  you  all  things,  hoiv  that  so  laboring  ye  ought 
to  supioort  the  weak,  and  to  I'emember  the  words  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  how  he  said,  It  is  7nore  blessed  to  give  tluin 
to  receive'''  ^ 

"  Paul  and  Tinwtheus,  the  servants  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  all  the  saints  hi  Christ  Jesus,  which  are  at  Philipjn, 
ivith  the  bishops  (or  pastors)  and  deacons.  .  .  .  Let  your 
conversation  be  as  it  becometh  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  tliat 
ivhether  I  cmne  and  see  you,  or  else  be  absent,  I  may 
hear  of  your  affairs,  tliat  ye  stand  fast  in  one  spirit, 
with  one  miyid  striving  together  for  the  faith  of  the 
Gospel.^  .  .  .  Do  all  things  ivithout  niunnurings  and 
disputings ;  that  ye  niay  be  blameless  and  harmless,  the 
sons  of  God,  ivithout  rebuke,  in  the  midst  of  a  crooked 
and  perverse  nation,  among  ivlwm  ye  shine  as  lights  in 
the  world,  holding  forth  the  ivord  of  life. ^  .  .  .  Therefore, 
my  brethren  dearly  beloved  and  lojiged  for,  ')ny  joy  and 
crown,  so  stand  fast  in  the  Lord,  my  dearly  beloved.  .  .  . 
Let  your  moderation  be  ktwivn  unto  all  men  ;  the  Lord 
is  at  hand.  Be  careful  for  nothing  ;  but  in  every  thing 
by  praijer  and  supplication  with  thanksgiving  let  your 
requests  be  made  known  unto  God.^  .  .  .  This  is  a  true 
saying,  If  a  man  desire  the  office  of  a  bishop  (or  of  a 
pastor),  he  desireth  a  good  work.  A  bishop)  (i.  e.  pastor) 
must  be  blameless,  the  husband  of  one  ivife,  vigila7it, 
sober,  of  good  beJiavior,  given  to  hospitcdity,  apt  to  teach; 
not  given  to  ivine,  no  striker,  rwt  greedy  of  filthy  lucre  ; 
but  patient,  not  a  brawler,  rwt  covetous  ;  one  tliat  rideth 
well  his  oivn  house,  having  his  children  in  subjection 
ivith  all  gravity ;  {^for  if  a  7nan  kru)iv  not  how  to  rule 

his  own  house,  hoio  shall  he  take  care  of  the  church  of 

God  ?)  Not  a  novice,  lest  being  lifted  up  ivith  pride  he 
fall  into  the  condemnation  of  the  devil.  Moreover,  he 
must  liave  a  good  report  of  them  ivhich  are  without,  lest 

he  fall   into  reproach  and  the  snare  of  the  devil. ^  .  .  . 

Thou,  therefore,  my  son,  be  strong  in  the  grace  that  is  in 

'  Acts  XX.  17,  18,  28,  31,  33-35.  "  Phil.  i.  1,  27. 

3  Phil.  ii.  14-16.         *  Phil.  iv.  1,  5,  6.         '^1  Tim.  iu.  1-7. 


200         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

Christ  Jesus.  Atul  the  things  that  thou  hast  heard  of 
me  among  Tnany  witnesses,  the  same  conimit  thou  to 
faithful  men,  who  sluill  be  able  to  teach  others  also}  .  .  . 
A  bishop  {i.  e.  pastor)  7nust  be  blameless,  as  the  steward 
of  God;  '?iot  self-ivilled,  not  soon  afigry,  m)t  given  to 
wine,  "no  striker,  7wt  given  to  filthy  lucre  ;  but  a  lover  of 
Jwsintalitij,  a  lover  of  good  men,  sober,  just,  holy,  temper- 
ate ;  holding  fast  the  faithful  word}  .  .  .  The  elders 
tvhich  are  ainong  you  I  exhort,  who  am  also  an  elder.  .  .  . 
Feed  the  flock  of  God,  ivhich  is  a?nong  you,  taking  the 
oversight  thereof,  not  by  constraint,  but  willingly ;  not 
for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind ;  neither  as  being 
lords  over  God's  heritage,  but  being  ensamples  to  the 
flock:' ^ 

Unconverted  men,  on  the  other  hand,  though  preachers 
of  the  Gospel,  are  declared  to  be  strangers  to  him  :  "  Be- 
ware of  false  prophets,  which  come  to  you  in  sheep's 
clothing,  but  inwardly  they  are  ravening  wolves;  ye 
sliall  know  them  by  their  fruits.'^  .  .  .  Many  tvill  say  to 
me  hi  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  ive  not  prophesied  in 
thy  naine,  and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out  devils,  a7id  in 
thy  name  done  7nany  ivo7iderful  ivorks  ?  A7id  the7i  ivill 
I  profess  unto  them,  1 9iever  knew  you  :  depart  fro7n  7ne, 
ye  tliat  ivork  iniquitT/."  ^ 

All  unconverted  and  ungodly  persons,  professing  to  be 
Christians,  whether  pastors  or  others,  are  said  to  be  zizania, 
weeds  among  the  wheat,  children  of  the  wicked  one,  and 
sown  among  believers  by  the  wicked  one.^  Those  who 
preach  false  doctrine  are  declared  to  be  false  apostles, 
transforming  themselves  into  apostles  of  Christ,  and  min- 
isters of  Satan,  pretending  to  be  ministers  of  righteousness.''' 
Preachers  who  pervert  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  and 
especially  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  the  righteousness 
of  Christ  through  faith  alone,  ought  to  be  cut  off  from  the 
church.*      From   these   passages   it  is  evident  that   those 

1  2  Tim.  ii.  1,  2.  ^  xit.  i.  7-9. 

3  1  Pet.  V.  1-3.  ^  Matt.  vii.  15,  16. 

^  Matt.  vii.  22,  23.  e  m^u.  xiii.  24,  25,  38,  39. 

7  2  Cor.  xi.  3,  12-15.  «  ^^1.  i.  8,  9  j  v.  J  2. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.   201 

pastors  alone  minister  to  the  churches  of  Christ  by  his 
authority  who  are  sound  in  doctrine,  faithful,  holy,  and 
experienced  men ;  who  take  the  episcopate  of  their  churches, 
not  for  the  sake  of  income,  but  from  hearty  zeal  :  sober, 
just,  and  temperate  ;  all  others  though  regularly  ordained, 
being  intruders  into  the  ministry,  disowaied  by  him. 

Here  let  us,  for  a  moment,  imagine  the  efi'ect  upon  this 
country  if  all  the  pastors  of  the  Anglican  Churches  were 
such  as  the  New  Testament  declares  that  they  ought  to 
be.  In  184  7,  the  number  of  the  working  clergy  in  En- 
gland and  Wales  was  12,923.^  The  population  of 
England  and  Wales  in  1841  was  15,906,829,  and  must 
be  now  above  16,000,000.  The  number  of  Anglican 
pastors,  is  therefore,  on  an  average,  one  to  each  1230  of 
the  population  ;  i.  e.  one  to  each  246  families.  Rightly 
directed,  therefore,  there  are  now  Anglican  ministers  enough 
to  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  fireside  of  every  family  in  the 
land ;  and  when  we  subtract  the  millions  of  dissenters, 
who  have  provided  for  themselves  abundani  pastoral 
superintendence,  and  then  consider  the  lay  agency  which 
has  of  late  years  been  brought  into  activity,  these  13,000 
pastors,  if  faithful  and  zealous  men,  which  they  are  bound 
by  the  law  of  Christ  to  be,  would  be  more  than  sufficient 
to  supply  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  country.  Thirteen 
thousand  ministers  in  the  apostolic  age  would  have  preached 
the  Gospel  to  many  more  than  sixteen  millions  ;  and  so 
might  these  :  but  the  torpedo  touch  of  the  State  has 
paralyzed  them.  Individual  ministers  may,  through  divine 
grace,  overcome,  in  some  degree,  the  influence  of  the 
system  under  which  they  live  ;  but  a  legal  income,  the 
prospect  of  preferment,  wealth  and  dignity,  the  ubiquitous 
influence  of  the  State  supremacy,  multiplied  restrictions 
upon  evangelic  zeal,  with  unrestricted  liberty  to  be  indo- 
lent, dependence  upon  worldly  patrons,  and  the  possession 
of  exclusive  prerogatives,  must  ever  hinder  the  incumbents 
of  England  from  being  zealous  evangelists  to  the  commu- 
nity at  large. 

The  very  names  given  to  Anglican  pastors  indicate  the 
Horsraan,  "  Speech  on  Bishopric  of  Manchester  Bill,"  p.  20. 


202    EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

spiritual  havoc  which  the  union  has  done  among  them, 
In  the  New  Testament  Christian  teachers  are  called  pas- 
tors (enloKOTTOi,  or  superintendents),  ministers,  evangelists : 
but  in  the  Establishment  they  are  transformed  into  clerks, 
parsons,  presentees,  priests,  rectors,  incumbents — all  words 
expressing  nothing  spiritual  or  paternal.  The  pastoral 
office  is  changed  into  a  benefice,  a  living,  an  incumbency, 
a  freehold  ;  and  the  true  idea  of  a  church  being  obliterated, 
the  only  church  of  which  the  parishioners  have  any  notion 
is  the  old  stone  building,  round  which,  for  centuries,  their 
fathers'  graves  have  been  multiplying. 

But  let  us  consider  these  points  more  in  detail.  First, 
we  will  notice  the  influence  which  the  union  exerts  upon 
Anglican  pastors,  by  affording  them  a  legal  income.  In 
this  its  advocates  most  glory.  It  gives  dignity  and  inde- 
pendence, they  think,  to  the  pastor.  Those  who,  like 
actors,  must  please  to  live,  like  actors  will  live  to  please. 
Stern  truth  must  be  banished  from  the  pulpit,  and  nothing 
be  heard  but  what  flatters  the  pride,  and  indulges  the  frail- 
ties, of  the  purse-bearers.  While  those  whose  income  is 
secure  can  afford  to  scorn  this  servility,  and  can  assume 
the  authority  of  a  parent  toward  his  children. 

Unfortunately  for  this  theory,  it  is  against  the  law  of 
Christ,  who  has  ordained  that  the  minister  should  be  main- 
tained by  the  spontaneous  offerings  of  the  church  ;  and, 
whatever  plausibility  it  may  possess,  we  might  expect  that 
experience  would  disprove  it.  A  wide  and  long  experience 
has  disproved  it,  in  fact.  The  mode  in  which  the  law  of 
Christ  is  obeyed  by  a  congregational  church  is  as  follows  : 
When  the  pastor  is  called  by  the  church  to  settle  among 
them,  the  church  promises  him  a  certain  income  at  a 
church-meeting,  the  deacons  being  the  officers  who  are  to 
superintend  the  accomplishment  of  the  promise.  Persons 
who  have  seats  in  the  chapel  are  invited  to  contribute 
according  to  their  means,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  the 
receipts  are  reported  to  the  church  at  one  of  its  meetings. 
Should  they  fall  short  of  the  stipulated  sum,  the  defect  is 
made  up  by  the  members  of  the  church,  accordmg  to  their 
means  and  their  liberality.      In  all  these  pecuniary  matters 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.       203 

the  pastor  has  no  concern,  they  are  settled  by  the  deacons 
and  the  church  without  him.  Should  a  minister  he  un- 
faithful or  incapable,  his  congregation  would  diminish,  the 
receipts  would  fail,  and,  after  a  time,  he  must  resign  his 
office.  Under  such  circumstances  an  irreligious,  weak,  or 
ignorant  minister  would  be  tempted  to  flatter  the  congre- 
gation, and  to  make  himself  popular  by  servility  ;  but  such 
low  arts  would  only  precipitate  his  removal,  since  they 
would  necessarily  alienate  all  the  earnest  and  intelligent 
members  of  the  church,  who  are  the  pastor's  chief  support- 
ers. A  zealous  and  faithful  man  is  under  no  such  tempta- 
tion. It  is  found,  with  scarcely  one  exception,  among 
thousands  of  cases,  both  in  England  and  in  the  United 
StMes,  that  such  a  minister,  with  good  sense  and  good 
temper,  is  generously  and  affectionately  sustained  by  the 
church  :  and  no  others  ought  to  be  ministers,  or  can  expect 
to  be  sustained.  Moreover,  it  is  evident,  from  the  nature 
of  the  case,  that  the  most  faithful  minister  is  sure  to  be  the 
most  appreciated  :  for  the  chief  supporters  of  the  ministry 
are  true  Christians,  whose  chief  interest  is  to  secure  their 
own  salvation  and  the  salvation  of  their  families.  Such 
persons  value  most  the  preaching  which  most  enlightens 
and  improves  them,  which  most  reaches  the  conscience, 
and  which  most  M'^arms  the  heart.  The  bold,  earnest, 
sincere,  affectionate  minister,  with  whom  the  Lord  works 
(Mark  xvi.  20),  who  prays  in  the  Holy  Ghost  (Jude  20),  and 
who  preaches  "in  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit."  "with 
the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven,"  is  necessarily  the 
minister  who  does  them  the  most  good,  who  most  wins 
their  esteem,  and  for  whom  they  are  ready  to  make  the 
greatest  sacrifices.  The  worldly  may  be  offended  and 
retire,  the  church  is  built  up,  and  its  members  sustain  his 
efforts  with  affectionate  gratitude.  Instead  of  being  tempt- 
ed to  servility  and  flattery,  such  a  minister  has  every  in- 
ducement to  be  faithful  both  with  respect  to  doctrine  and 
Christian  morals.  Christ,  in  his  law  for  the  maintenance 
of  his  ministers,  has  not  neglected  to  furnish  them  with 
secondary  motives  to  fulfill  their  duty,  in  addition  to  those 
which   are  derived   from   a   regard    to   his  glory  and  the 


204         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

knowledge  of  his  will.  The  minister  who  is  made  by 
Christ  dependent  on  the  church,  if  he  works  hard  for  the 
church,  and  loves  them  sincerely  ;  if  he  watches  for  their 
welfare,  builds  them  up  by  his  experienced  counsel  and 
holy  life,  converts  sinners  to  God,  and  is  without  covetous- 
ness,  may  be  free  from  all  anxiety  about  his  income.  His 
brethren  are  sure  to  be  generous,  liberal,  affectionate.  They 
will  do  more  than  they  stipulated  to  do.  They  give  with 
joy.  They  count  him  worthy  of  double  honor  (1  Tim.  v. 
17),  and  he  feels  year  by  year,  in  their  proved  kindness, 
new  motives  for  devotedness  to  Christ  and  to  them. 

But  in  the  Establishment  all  this  is  reversed.  The 
rent-charge  is  as  much  the  property  of  the  incumbent  as 
the  rent  is  the  property  of  the  landlord  ;  and  the  incumbent 
is  no  more  indebted  to  his  congregation  for  the  one  than 
the  landlord  is  to  his  tenant  for  the  other.  By  6  and  7 
Will.  IV.,  they  must  pay  or  suffer  distraint  upon  their 
goods.  He  owed  them  nothing  for  the  possession  of  his 
living,  perhaps  they  petitioned  against  his  appointment, 
perhaps  they  are  now  reluctant  to  pay  his  dues  ;  how  can 
he  feel  gratitude  to  them  for  his  income  ?  His  income, 
moreover,  is  not  dependent  upon  his  piety  or  virtue,  his 
diligence,  his  zeal,  or  his  usefulness  ;  it  is  secured  to  him 
by  law.  It  will  be  paid  to  him  in  full,  however  destitute 
he  may  be  of  all  these.  What  inducement,  then,  of  a 
secondary  kind  has  he  to  cultivate  them  ?  The  duties 
imposed  by  the  State  he  must  indeed  fulfill.  He  must 
reside  in  the  parish  nine  months  of  the  year ;  he  must  abstain 
from  gross  and  open  immorality ;  he  must  read  the  Sunday 
services ;  he  must  read  a  sermon,  which  may  be  written  by 
another  man ;  he  must  read  the  baptismal  service  over  every 
child  brought  to  the  font ;  he  must  read  the  marriage-service 
for  all  who  lawfully  require  it,  and  must  read  the  burial- 
service  whenever  a  death  occurs.  When  he  has  thus  paid 
his  debt  to  the  State  in  return  for  his  State  salary,  the  law 
can  ask  no  more  ;  and  he  can  resign  himself  to  a  life  of 
almost  total  self-indulgence  with  complete  impunity. 

With  such  temptations  to  indolence,  how  can  Anglican 
ministers  generally  be  expected  to  be  diligent  ?     Let  us 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.   205 

assume  that  they  are  hke  other  men — with  the  average 
share  of  integrity  and  vigor,  how  can  they  work  hard  with 
this  bed  of  down  inviting  them  to  repose  ?  How  many 
physicians,  lawyers,  miUtary  officers,  or  public  functionaries, 
under  these  circumstances,  would  be  laborious  men  ?  Not 
one  in  ten.  And  the  clergy  being,  like  the  rest  of  the 
world,  is  there  more  than  one  rector  out  of  ten  who  preach- 
es, catechises,  visits  the  sick,  instructs  from  house  to  house 
the  men,  women,  and  children  of  his  flock  ?  Who  works 
in  his  study  and  works  among  his  people  ?  Who  works 
on  the  Sunday,  and  works  through  the  week,  with  any 
thing  like  the  hearty  perseverance  with  which  the  physician 
and  the  lawyer  work  out  a  comfortable  maintenance  for 
their  families  ?  Let  any  one  examine  the  pastoral  super- 
intendence in  the  ten  parishes  round  his  dwelling,  and  see. 

When  the  pastor's  income  is  paid  by  his  church,  should 
he  grow  careless  and  negligent,  unsound  in  doctrine,  or  im- 
moral in  life,  he  would  be  at  once  removed  from  his  office, 
because  the  people  would  withdraw  from  his  ministry. 
But  how  can  a  bad  Anglican  minister  be  removed  from 
his  parish  ?  His  freehold  is  his  castle.  His  legal  income 
affords  him  impunity,  within  very  wide  limits,  for  ministe- 
rial trangression.  He  may  be  ignorant  and  idle,  he  may 
be  a  sportsman  and  a  card-player,  he  may  be  gluttonous 
and  fond  of  wine,  he  may  be  proud  and  quarrelsome,  he 
may  be  a  flatterer  and  a  parasite,  he  may  be  a  hater  of 
good  men,  and  even  covertly  vicious,  and  yet  within  the 
intrenchments  of  his  freehold  may  bid  defiance  to  the 
world's  contempt  and  anger,  as  a  feudal  baron  from  the 
inaccessible  heights  of  his  castled  rock  hurled  his  defiance 
upon  his  beleaguering  foes. 

Even  the  natural  wish  which  men  have  to  secure  the 
good  opinion  of  their  neighbors  is  checked  by  the  Anglican 
system.  Under  the  scriptural  system,  a  feverish  desire  of 
change  in  ministers  is  repressed  by  the  fact  that  the  largest 
incomes  being  generally  attached  to  the  most  arduous  and 
responsible  situations,  those  who  are  not  fitted  to  fill  them 
usually  shrink  from  the  task,  and  therefore  contentedly  cul- 
tivate the  good- will  of  the  people  among  whom  they  labor. 


206    EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

But  the  State  provision  reverses  this  salutary  order  of 
things.  In  the  EstabUshment  the  richest  livings  may  be 
held  by  men  of  small  capacity,  and  of  no  zeal,  as  easily  as  by 
men  of  the  highest  attainments.  And  vi^ith  this  fact  before 
them,  multitudes  of  the  Anglican  pastors  must  have  an 
eager  M^ish  to  quit  their  parishes.  There  are  in  the  Es- 
tablishment 5230  curates,  with  an  average  professional 
income  of  £81  per  annum.  These  are  impelled  by  their 
subordinate  position  and  scanty  remuneration,  to  look  out 
for  livings.  But  the  livings  themselves  are  generally  poor, 
so  that  4882  incumbents  have  official  incomes  beneath 
£200,  and  1979  more  have  less  than  £300.  On  these 
sums  it  is  hard  to  maintain  their  families  ;  and  thus  about 
6861  incumbents,  and  5230  curates,  are  eagerly  looking 
out  for  any  change  which  may  improve  their  condition. 
Already  severed  from  their  people  by  education,  by  inde- 
pendence, by  union  with  aristocratic  patrons,  they  are  still 
further  severed  from  them  by  the  hope  of  preferment.  With 
the  knowledge  that  there  are  3433  livings  varying  in  value 
from  £300  to  £1000  per  annum,  how  earnestly  must 
many  of  these  12,091  pastors  desire  to  quit  the  congrega- 
tions in  connection  with  which  they  are  so  miserably  poor  I 
Incomes  so  large,  without  any  additional  labor  or  responsi- 
bility, to  be  obtained,  not  by  merit,  but  by  favor,  must  un- 
settle the  minds  of  numbers,  and  most  mischievously  impair 
their  zeal  in  behalf  of  churches  whom  they  are  endeavoring 
to  desert.  On  the  minds  of  some  of  these  incumbents,  who 
are  men  of  rank,  of  learning  or  of  talent,  the  more  splendid 
emoluments  which  government  have  at  their  disposal  must 
exercise  a  still  more  injurious  influence,  not  only  relaxing 
the  ties  which  ought  to  bind  the  pastor  to  his  church,  but 
also  poisoning  their  minds  with  a  secular  cupidity  most  un- 
favorable to  spirituality  or  devotedness. 

The  result  of  this  system  is  too  apparent  in  the  undis- 
guised worldliness  of  many  of  the  clergy,  who,  by  their 
presence  at  the  ball  and  the  race-course,  by  their  assiduity 
in  hunting  and  shooting,  by  their  ignorance  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  their  ministerial  incapacity,  do  much  dishonor 
to  the  religion  of  which  they  are  professedly  ministers. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.       207 

Let  us  next  notice  the  influence  exercised  upon  Anglican 
pastors  by  the  supremacy  of  the  State. 

Scarcely  any  quality  is  more  necessary  to  a  pastor  than 
sincerity.  Men  will  bear  much  frora-  those  whom  they 
know  to  be  perfectly  honest  in  their  opinions.  On  the 
other  hand,  any  measure  of  insincerity  in  a  pastor  is  both 
fatal  to  his  influence,  and  destructive  to  his  reputation. 
**  I  am  sure,"  says  Bishop  Wilberforce,  "  a  more  deadly 
blow  could  not  be  inflicted  on  our  church  than  that  a 
people,  of  whose  character,  thank  God,  sterling  honesty  is 
the  distinctive  feature,  should  have  reason  to  suspect  that 
their  clergy  believed  one  thing  while  they  taught  another."  ^ 
To  inflict  this  blow,  it  is  not  needful  that  the  clergy  should 
manifest  insmcerity  in  many  things.  ''He  tliat  is  faith- 
ful in  th/it  tohich  is  least  is  faithful  also  in  much :  and 
he  that  is  unjust  in  the  least  is  unjust  also  in  much.''"^ 
Habitual  insincerity  in  any  one  thing  shows  a  man  to  be 
destitute  of  sterling  sincerity.  A  hian  of  truth  can  not  lie 
sometimes,  any  more  than  he  can  lie  often. 

St.  Paul  speaks  much  of  this  needful  sincerity,  and  made 
much  use  of  it  in  his  appeals  to  the  churches.  Thus  to 
the  pastors  of  Ephesus  he  declared,  "  Ye  knoiv  hoio  I  kept 
hack  'nothing  that  loas  iwofitahle  unto  you  ....  Where- 
fore I  take  you  to  record  this  day,  tJiat  I  am  pure  from 
the  blood  of  all  men  ;  for  I  have  not  shunned  to  declare 
unto  you  all  the  counsel  of  God.''  ^  To  the  Christians  of 
Corinth  he  could  make  this  profession  :  ''Our  rejoicing  is 
this,  the  testimo7iy  of  our  conscience,  that  in  simplicity 
and  godly  sincerity,  not  ivith  Jleshly  ivisdom,  hut  by  the 
grace  of  God,  we  have  had  crwr  conversation  in  the  ivorld} 
....  For  we  are  not  as  many,  ivhich  corrupt  the  ivord 
of  God :  but  as  of  siiwerity,  hut  as  of  God,  in  the  sight 
of  God  speak  we  in  Christ.''  ^  And  with  honest  joy  he 
reminded  the  Thessalonian  Church  of  his  sincerity  in  these 
terms:  "Our  exiiortation  ivas  iwt  of  deceit  ....  nor  in 
guile.      For  neither  at  a7iy  time  used  ice  flattering  ivords, 

^  Charge,  Dec.  21,  1845,  p.  15.  ^  L^ke  xvi.  10. 

3  Acts^xx.  20,  26,  27.  *  2  Cor.  i.  12. 

6  2  Cor.  ii.  17. 


208         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

as  ye  knoiv,  nor  a  cloke  of  covetousness  ;  God  is  wit- 
ness.'' ^ 

A  pious  pastor,  superintending  a  free  church,  may  use 
the  same  language.  There  is  nothing  to  hinder  him  and 
them  from  investigating  and  obeying  the  whole  will  of 
Christ,  whom  alone,  as  head  of  his  own  house,  they  are 
bound  to  obey.^  Every  error  in  the  church  may  be  re- 
moved by  mutual  study  of  the  word  of  God,  and  every 
practical  evil  be  renounced.  All  truth  lies  open  to  their 
investigation,  all  duty  invites  them  to  accomplish  it. 

But  the  circumstances  of  a  pious  pastor  in  the  Estab- 
lishment are  such  as  strongly  tempt  him  to  be  insincere. 
While  yet  a  youth,  he  was  compelled  at  Oxford  or  Cam- 
bridge to  express  his  belief  in  the  thirty-nine  articles,  when 
neither  his  age  nor  his  leisure  allowed  him  maturely  to  ex- 
amine them.  When  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty-three, 
and  was  ordained,  he  was  required  to  "  subscribe,  ex  aninio,'' 
the   three    following   articles    of  the    thirty-sixth   canon : 

1.  "That  the  king's  majesty,  under  God,  is  the  only 
supreme  governor  of  this  realm  ....  as  well  in  all  spir- 
itual or  ecclesiastical  things  or  causes   as  temporal,"  &c. 

2.  "  That  the  book  of  common  prayer,  and  of  ordering  of 
bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  containeth  in  it  nothing  con- 
trary to  the  ivorcl  of  God,''  &c.  3.  "  That  he  acknowl- 
edgeth  all  and  every  the  articles  ....  being  in  number 
thirty-and-nine  .  ...  to  be  agreeable  to  the  ivord  of  God." 
He  was  thus  pledged  to  allow  the  State  supremacy,  and 
to  maintain  that  the  whole  prayer-book  and  the  thirty-nine 
articles  are  throughout  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God. 
Further,  when  he  was  instituted  to  his  living,  he  made  the 
following  declaration  :  "  I  do  hereby  declare  my  unfeigned 
assent  and  consent  to  all  and  every  thing  contained  and 
prescribed  in  and  by  the  book  intituled  the  book  of  common 
prayer,"  &c.  Lastly,  though  he  has  not  subscribed  to  the 
canons,  he  is  bound  by  their  doctrines,  and  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal judge  may  punish  him  for  any  violation  of  them.  By 
the  second  canon,  if  he  impeach  any  part  of  the  king's 
supremacy,    he   is    excommunicated   ipso  facto.      By  the 

^  1  Thess.  ii.  3,  5.  ^  Heb.  iii.  6  ;  Acts  v.  29.     • 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.       209 

fourth  canon,  if  he  affirm  that  the  form  of  worship  in  the 
Church  of  England  "  containeth  in  it  any  thing  repugnant 
to  Scripture,"  he  is  excommunicated.  By  the  fifth  canon, 
if  he  assert  that  the  thirty-nine  articles  "  are  in  any  part 
superstitious  or  erroneous,"  he  is  excommunicated.  By  the 
eighth  canon,  if  he  affirm  "  that  the  form  and  manner  of 
making  and  consecrating  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  con- 
taineth any  thing  in  it  that  is  repugnant  to  the  word  of 
God,"  he  is  excommunicated.  And  by  the  tenth  canon,  if 
he  affirm  that  dissenters  and  their  ministers  are  Christian 
churches,  he  may  be  excommunicated.  Lastly,  by  13  Eliz- 
abeth, cap.  12,  "  If  he  shall  affirm  any  doctrine  contrary 
to  any  of  the  thirty-nine  articles,  he  shall  be  deprived  of 
his  ecclesiastical  promotions  ;"  ^  or  if  he  "  speak  or  preach 
any  thing  in  derogation  of  the  book  of  common  prayer,"  he 
may  be  deprived.^  Excommunication  hinders  a  person 
from  making  a  will,  or  suing  in  an  action,  real  or  per- 
sonal ;  and  exposes  him  to  be  arrested  and  imprisoned  by 
a  writ  de  excommunicato  capiendo  directed  to  the  sheriff, 
granted  out  of  the  court  of  Chancery.^ 

Thus  each  Anglican  pastor  has  been  deeply  pledged  to 
the  whole  State  Church  system  while  he  was  yet  a  novice, 
and  incapable  of  maturely  examining  it.  His  worldly  in- 
terests have  by  degrees  become  deeply  involved  in  it.  If 
he  zealously  maintain  every  tittle  of  it,  a  living,  a  pre- 
bendal  stall,  a  deanery,  a  bishopric,  a  peerage,  a  palace, 
and  5000/.  a  year,  may  reward  his  advocacy.  If  he  ques- 
tion the  truth  of  any  of  its  doctrines,  or  in  the  least  impugn 
the  supremacy,  or  any  part  of  the  prayer-book,  or  any  one 
of  the  articles,  he  must  look  for  frowns,  not  favor  ;  and 
may  think  himself  happy  if,  like  Mr.  Head,  he  is  only  sus- 
pended for  three  years  from  his  ministry,  and  deprived  for 
that  period  of  his  income,  with  the  prospect  of  restoration 
upon  renouncing  his  dissentient  opinions."^ 

Let  us  now  consider  some  of  those  things  in  the  prayer- 
book  and  in  the  thirty-nine  articles  which  each  Anglican 

1  Burn,  i.  105.  ^  i^,  jj    141  ^  3  i^.  pp.  248,  250. 

•*  The  offense  of  Mr.  Head  was  his  condemnation  of  several  ex- 
pressions in  the  baptismal  service. 


210    EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PEHSONS. 

pastor  declares  to  be  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God.  First, 
the  baptismal  service  states  that  God,  by  the  baptism  of 
Jesus  in  the  river  Jordan,  did  sanctify  water  to  the  mystical 
washing  away  of  sin  ;  it  then  prays  for  the  infant,  that  he, 
coming  to  baptism,  may  receive  remission  of  his  sins  by 
spiritual  regeneration.  It  then  proceeds  thus  :  "  Dearly 
beloved,  ye  have  brought  this  child  here  to  be  baptized. 
Ye  have  prayed  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  would  vouch- 
safe to  receive  him,  to  release  him  of  his  sins,  to  sanctify 
him  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  give  him  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  everlasting  life.  Ye  have  heard  also  that  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  promised  in  his  Gospel  to  grant  all 
these  things  that  ye  have  prayed  for  :  which  promise  he 
for  his  part  will  most  surely  keep  and  perform."  So  that, 
according  to  this  service,  Christ  has  promised  to  save  all 
the  children  of  every  parish  in  England,  if  their  sponsors 
make  these  prayers  at  the  time  of  baptism  !  Then  the 
service  adds  this  prayer  to  the  Almighty  :  "  Sanctify  this 
water  to  the  mystical  washing  away  of  sin."  The  child 
is  then  baptized  ;  after  which  the  priest  says  :  "  Seeing 
now,  dearly  beloved  brethren,  that  this  child  is  regenerate 
....  let  us  give  thanks,"  &c.,  and  then  proceeds  thus  : 
"  We  yield  thee  hearty  thanks,  most  merciful  Father,  that 
it  hath  pleased  thee  to  regenerate  this  infant  with  thy  Holy 
Spirit,  to  receive  him  for  thine  ow^n  child  by  adoption,  and 
to  incorporate  him  into  thy  holy  church."  All  this  the 
prayer-book  says  of  each  child  in  every  parish  who  is  bap- 
tized, however  ungodly  the  sponsors  and  parents  of  the 
child  may  be  I  And  Anglican  pastors  declare  this  to  be 
agreeable  to  the  word  of  God  I 

At  the  close  of  the  baptismal  service  the  sponsors  are 
instructed  thus  :  "  Ye  are  to  take  care  that  this  child  be 
brought  to  the  bishop,  to  be  confirmed  by  him  so  soon  as 
he  can  say  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  prayer,  and  the  ten  com- 
mandments, in  the  vulgar  tongue,  and  be  further  instructed 
in  the  Church  Catechism  set  forth  ibr  that  purpose." 

In  this  catechism  each  child  in  the  parish  is  taught  to 
say  in  answer  to  the  question,  "  Who  gave  you  this  name  ?" 
♦*  My  godfathers  and  godmothers  in  my  baptism  ;  wherein 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.       211 

I  was  made  a  member  of  Christ,  the  child  of  God,  and  an 
inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Having  thus  learned 
from  the  catechism  that  they  were  regenerated  at  baptism, 
these  children  are  now  brought  to  confirmation,  at  which 
the  prayer-book  directs  the  bishop  to  say,  "  Almighty  and 
ever-living  God,  who  hast  vouchsafed  to  regenerate  these 
thy  servants  by  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  hast  given 
unto  them  forgiveness  of  all  their  sins,  strengthen  them, 
we  beseech  thee,"  &c.  They  are  then  admissible  to  the 
Lord's  table  :  and  the  prayer-book  adds  to  the  commmiion- 
service  this  notice,  "  Note — That  every  parishioner  shall 
communicate  three  times  in  the  year,  of  which  Easter  to 
be  one."  When  a  parishioner  is  sick,  the  prayer-book 
directs  that  the  priest,  after  confession,  "  shall  absolve  him, 
if  he  humbly  and  heartily  desire  it,  after  this  sort  :  '  Our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  ivlio  hath  left  poiver  to  his  church  to 
absolve  all  sinners  who  truly  repent  and  believe  in  him,  of 
his  great  mercy  forgive  thee  thine,  offenses  :  and  by  his 
authority  committed  to  me,  I  absolve  thee  from  all  thy 
sins,'  "  &c.  At  length  each  parishioner  dies  :  the  irrelig- 
ious, the  worldly,  the  profane,  and  the  vicious,  are  sum- 
moned to  receive  their  awful  doom  as  impenitent  enemies 
of  Christ,  and  their  bodies  being  brought  to  the  churchyard, 
the  prayer-book  says  of  each  :  "  Forasmuch  as  it  hath 
pleased  Almighty  God  of  his  great  mercy  to  take  unto 
himself  the  soul  of  our  dear  brother  here  departed,  we, 
therefore,  commit  his  body  to  the  ground."  After  which 
the  priest  is  forced  to  proceed  thus  :  "  We  give  thee  hearty 
thanks,  for  that  it  hath  pleased  thee  to  deliver  this  our 
brother  out  of  the  miseries  of  this  sinful  world."  All  this 
the  Anglican  pastor  declares  to  be  agreeable  to  the  word 
of  God  !  When  deacons  come  to  the  bishop  to  be  ordained 
priests,  they  are  forced  to  kneel  down  before  him,  and  he 
then,  placmg  his  hands  upon  their  heads,  says  to  each,  in- 
cluding all  the  worldly  and  the  Anglo- Catholic  among  them, 
"  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  office  and  work  of  a  priest 
in  the  church  of  God,  now  committed  to  thee  by  the  im- 
position of  our  hands.  Wliose  sins  thou  dost  forgive,  they 
o/re  forgiven  ;  and  whose  sitis  tJwu  dost  retain,  they  arc 


212         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UxNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

retained r  At  the  consecration  of  a  bishop  the  archbishop 
uses  similar  words  :  "  Pveceive  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the 
office  and  work  of  a  bishop  in  the  church  of  God  now 

committed  to  thee  by  the  imposition  of  our  hands 

And  remember  that  thou  stir  up  the  grace  of  God  ivhich 
is  given  thee  by  this  imposition  of  our  huyids.''  Upon 
which  Bishop  Wilberforce  remarks,  '«  All  this  is  the  most 
blasphemous  frivolity,  if  it  be  not  the  deepest  truth."  In 
the  presence  of  all  these  statements  of  the  prayer-book,  each 
Anglican  pastor  declares  that  ' '  it  containeth  in  it  nothing 
contrary  to  the  word  of  God  I" 

Pvespecting  all  these  statements  at  ordination  and  con- 
secration, which  are  much  nearer  to  "blasphemous  frivolity" 
than  to  "  deepest  truth,"  each  clergyman  is  obliged  to  main- 
tain as  follows  :  Article  thirty-six — "  The  book  of  consecra- 
tion of  archbishops  and  bishops,  and  ordering  of  priests  and 
deacons  ....  doth  contain  all  things  necessary  ....  7ieither 
hath  it  any  thing  that  of  itself  is  superstitious  and  un- 
godly.'''' All  the  nominees  of  ministers  of  State  in  succession 
thus  assume  to  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  all  sorts  of  young 
men  who  come  for  ordination ;  and  clergymen  must  profess 
this  to  be  "  neither  superstitious  nor  ungodly  I" 

Besides  thus  binding  the  pastor  to  express  his  assent  to 
all  the  statements  of  the  prayer-book  and  the  ordination 
services,  the  State  supremacy  likewise  compels  him  to  assent 
to  the  thirty-nine  articles.  The  twentieth  article  declares, 
"  The  church  hath  power  to  decree  rites  or  ceremonies, 
and  authority  in  controversies  of  faiths  The  twenty-sixth 
article  declares,  "  Although  in  the  visible  church  the  evil 
be  ever  mingled  with  the  good,  and  sometimes  the  evil 
have  chief  authority  in  the  ministration  of  the  word  And 
sacraments,  yet  forasmuch  as  they  do  not  the  same  in  their 
own  name,  but  in  Christ's,  and  do  minister  by  his  cojumis- 
sion  and  authority,  %ve  may  use  their  ministry  both  in 
hearing  the  word  of  God,  and  in  receiving  of  the  sacra- 
ments." ^      The  thirty-sixth  article  declares  that  the  bctl 

^  See  Matt.  vii.  15-23;  John  x.  5 ;  2  Cor.  xi.  3,  12-15;  Gs' 
i.  6-9 ;  V.  12  ;  1  Tim.  iii.  2-7 ;  2  Tim.  ii.  2  j  Tit.  i.  5-8 ;  2  JoV 
10,  11;   1  Cor.  V.  11-13. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.       213 

of  consecration  of  bishops,  and  of  ordering  of  priests,  hath 
not  "  any  thing  that  of  itself  is  superstitious  and  ungodly." 
These  three  articles  each  Anglican  pastor  declares  to  be 
"  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God  I      See  canon  thirty -six. 

The  State  further  compels  the  Anglican  pastor  habitu- 
ally to  perform  the  following  ecclesiastical  acts.  By  the 
sixty-eighth  canon  he  is  compelled  to  baptize  all  the  chil- 
dren of  the  parish  who  are  brought  to  him.  By  the  twen- 
ty-seventh, twenty-eighth,  and  fifty-seventh  canons,  he  is 
forbidden  to  admit  to  the  Lord's  table  any  who  will  not 
receive  it  kneeling,  any  "  notorious  depravers  of  the  prayer- 
book,"  and  any  strangers  from  neighboring  parishes. 

By  1  Edward  VI.  cap.  1,  he  "  shall  not  without  lawful 
cause  deny  the  same  to  any  person  that  will  devoutly  and 
humbly  desire  it."  So  that  he  is  obliged  to  receive  to  the 
Lord's  table  all  against  whom  he  can  not  legally  prove 
some  legal  ecclesiastical  offense,  that  is,  nine-tenths  of  all 
the  most  worldly  persons  in  the  parish.  By  the  sixty- 
eighth  canon,  he  must  bury  all  who  die  without  excommu- 
nication, that  is,  nearly  all  the  ungodly  persons  of  the 
parish  ;  and  by  the  Act  of  Uniformity  must  read  over 
each,  "  It  hath  pleased  Almighty  God  of  his  great  mercy 
to  take  unto  himself  the  soul  of  our  dear  brother  here  de- 
parted." When  any  pastor  finds  out  the  error  of  the 
prayer-book,  or  the  unscriptural  character  of  the  duties  im- 
posed upon  him,  he  may  withdraw  from  the  Establishment ; 
but  by  that  step  he  would  necessarily  expose  himself  and 
his  family  to  great  suffering.  According  to  the  maxim  of 
the  ecclesiastical  law,  "  Once  a  priest,  always  a  priest." 
He  may  be  prosecuted  in  the  court  of  Arches  for  officiating 
in  any  diocese  without  the  license  of  the  bishop  even  after 
he  has  seceded — as  Mr.  Shore  has  recently  been  under 
these  circumstances  prosecuted  by  the  Bishop  of  Exeter. 
But  if  he  be  spared  this  persecution,  it  is  only  to  be 
esteemed  by  many  of  his  former  friends  a  schismatic,  to  be 
shunned  as  an  apostate,  to  become  a  by-word  and  a  pro- 
verb, to  lose  his  position  in  society,  to  be  reduced  to  penury, 
to  be  without  employment  and  without  prospects. 

Few  men  have  the  courage  to  plunge  into  such  an  abyss 


214         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

of  trouble,  and  therefore  they  must  adjust  their  belief  to 
their  ciixumstances  as  best  they  may.  To  expose  the 
errors  of  the  prayer-book,  or  to  renounce  unscriptural  prac- 
tices, is  out  of  the  question.  In  either  case,  a  minister 
would  be  at  once  suspended  or  deprived.  What  must  he 
then  do  ?  First,  he  may  make  desperate  efforts,  by  exclu- 
sively reading  on  one  side,  and,  by  living  solely  w^ith  ardent 
conformists,  to  persuade  himself  that  all  the  statements  of 
the  prayer-book  are  true,  and  all  the  requirements  of  the 
State  are  scriptural.  Should  this  effort  fail,  and  should 
the  errors  of  the  prayer-book  force  themselves  upon  him, 
his  next  attempt  must  be  to  conceal  his  dissentient  oj^inions 
by  absolute  silence  on  the  subject.  But  this  is  a  fearful 
course  for  a  minister  of  Christ.  Was  he  not  placed  by 
Christ  in  the  church  as  a  witness  for  the  truth  ?  Is  not 
concealment  of  the  truth  at  once  an  infidelity  to  Christ  and 
a  wrong  to  the  world  ?  His  silence  prevents  the  overthrow 
of  error,  and  confirms  others  in  mischievous  delusion,  l^e- 
sides,  in  his  circumstances  concealment  is  falsehood  ;  for 
he  has  subscribed  to  the  truth  of  the  prayer-book,  and  only 
on  that  condition  is  he  allowed  to  retain  his  living  :  so  that 
the  efieet  of  his  silence  is  to  induce  the  people,  the  clergy, 
and  the  bishop,  all  to  think  that  he  maintains  the  prayer- 
book  to  be  wholly  consonant  to  Scripture.  Silence,  too,  is 
almost  impossible.  Occasions  must  arise  when  to  say 
nothing  would  be  equivalent  to  an  avowal  of  dissent  from 
the  prayer-book  ;  and  in  such  an  emergency  he  would  be 
strongly  tempted  to  defend  himself  from  the  suspicions  of 
zealous  conformists  by  professions  not  entirely  sincere.  To 
avoid  this  pain,  however,  there  is  another  course  which  the 
pious  AngUcan  pastor  may  take.  He  may  exaggerate  the 
importance  of  the  union,  extol  "  the  Church"  as  the  purest 
and  best  in  the  world,  persuade  himself  that  it  is  the  chief 
bulwark  of  Protestantism  ;  he  may  fill  up  his  time  and 
thoughts  with  the  duties  of  his  ministry,  and  may  resolve 
not  to  read,  speak,  or  think  on  those  disputed  topics.  Thus 
he  may  strive  to  hide  out  the  errors  of  the  prayer-book,  and 
avoid  every  conclusion  respecting  the  legal  fetters  of  his 
ministry,  shielding  himself  under  the  thought  that  many 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.   215 

excellent  men  do  all  that  he  is  called  to  do ;  and  that  mat- 
ters so  trifling  ought  not  to  endanger  an  institution  so  ven- 
erable and  so  necessary. 

Symptoms  of  this  state  of  mind  are,  I  think,  common. 

Among  pious  Anglican  pastors  it  is  common  to  hear 
strong  and  even  violent  denunciation  of  popery,  which  re- 
quires no  courage,  because  the  thunderer  launches  his  bolts 
against  a  despised  minority,  and  is  echoed  by  admiring 
multitudes.  But  the  ten  thousand  practical  abuses  within 
the  Establishment  wuke  no  such  indignant  thunders — the 
nomination  of  worldly  prelates — the  exclusion  of  the  Gospel 
from  thousands  of  parishes  in  which  by  the  union  ungodly 
ministers  have  the  monopoly  of  spiritual  instruction — the 
easy  introduction  of  irrehgious  youths  into  the  ministry — 
the  awful  desecration  of  baptism,  especially  in  large  civic 
parishes  —  the  more  awful  fact,  that  thirteen  thousand 
Anglican  pastors  leave  some  millions  of  the  poor  out  of  a 
population  of  only  sixteen  millions  utterly  untaught — the 
hateful  bigotry  of  the  canons,  which  excommunicate  all 
who  recognize  any  other  churches  of  Christ  in  England 
except  our  own — the  complete  fusion  of  the  church  and 
the  world  at  the  Lord's  table — the  obligation  upon  every 
parish  minister  publicly  to  thank  God  for  taking  to  himself 
the  soul  of  every  wicked  person  in  the  parish  who  dies 
without  being  excommunicated — ^the  almost  total  neglect 
of  scriptural  church  discipline — the  tyranny  of  the  license 
system — the  sporting,  dancing,  and  card-playing  of  many 
clergymen  —  the  government  orders  to  the  churches  of 
Christ  to  preach  on  what  topics,  and  to  pray  in  what 
terms,  the  State  prescribes — the  loud  and  frequent  denun- 
ciation of  our  brethren  of  other  denominations  as  schismat- 
ics— the  errors  of  the  articles  and  of  the  prayer-book,  and 
the  invasion  of  the  regal  prerogatives  of  Christ  by  the  State 
supremacy — the  total  absence  of  self-government,  and  there- 
fore of  all  self-reformation,  in  the  Establishment,  &c.,  &c., 
&c. :  all  these  enormous  evils  are  tolerated  and  concealed. 
Dissenters  are  often  and  eagerly  attacked  because  compar- 
atively weak  ;  but  scarcely  a  tongue  condemns  the  tyranny 
of  the  State  toward  the  Anglican  Churches,  because  tho 


216         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

State  is  strong  and  holds  the  purse.  Some  eagerly  search 
into  the  future,  compel  ^unfulfilled  prophecy  to  reveal  to 
them  the  fate  of  distant  generations  ;  but  majestic  and 
momentous  events  passing  before  our  eyes  are  overlooked. 
They  keenly  discuss  what  Jerusalem  is  to  be  in  the  millen- 
nium, but  do  not  ask  what  Scotland  and  the  Canton  de 
Vaud  are  now.  There  is  not  a  corner  or  nook  of  prophetic 
Scripture  which  they  do  not  explore,  but  they  know  little 
of  what  the  same  Scripture  declares  of  the  constitution  and 
discipline  of  Christian  churches.  Books  and  pamphlets 
without  end  solicit  attention  to  the  millennium,  but  scarcely 
a  whisper  suggests  how  existing  churches  are  to  be  purified 
and  revived.  The  evils  without  the  churches  are  deline- 
ated with  vehement  fidelity,  but  the  evils  within  nestle 
undisturbed.  Almost  all  reading  and  reflection  on  the 
subject  of  churches  and  Establishments  appear  to  be,  with 
many,  on  one  side.  Mr.  M'Neile's  "  Lectures  on  the 
Church,"  and  even  Mr.  Gladstone's  less  popular  treatises, 
are  read  extensively  ;  but  Wardlaw,  Ballantyne,  Conder, 
Gasparin,  Vinet,  Baird,  with  greater  power,  are  unread 
and  unknown.  Nay,  such  is  the  terror  generated  by  the 
system,  that  some  seem  afraid  to  do  right  till  others  do  it. 
When  any  effort  of  Christian  benevolence  is  proposed — a? 
the  London  City  Mission,  for  example — the  first  question? 
which  seem  to  arise  to  such  are  not  whether  it  is  right, 
scriptural,  and  useful,  but  questions  of  the  following  kind  : 
What  do  the  other  clergy  think  of  it  ?  What  does  the 
bishop  say  ?  Does  the  project  violate  any  canon  ?  Is  it 
agreeable  to  ecclesiastical  law  ?  How  will  it  affect  "  the 
church  ?"      Can  I  do  it  safely  ? 

All  this  is  very  unfavorable  to  the  formation  of  a  free, 
earnest,  sincere  character,  eager  to  find  truth,  and  ready  to 
maintain  it ;  yet  this  is  essential  to  the  efficiency  of  Chris- 
tian ministers. 

By  their  silence  on  many  important  subjects  which  claim 
a  decision,  and  by  their  exclusive  reading  on  one  side,  when 
no  fair  judgment  can  be  formed  but  by  a  full  investigation 
of  both  sides,  many  seem  to  be  afraid  that  their  ecclesiasti 
cal  opinions  will  not  bear  examination.      But  to  maintain 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.       217 

without  inquiry  opinions  which  inquiry  might  reverse,  is  to 
be  insincere.  Here  let  me  recall  the  words  of  Bishop 
Wilberforce  :  "I  am  sure  that  a  more  deadly  blow  could 
not  be  inflicted  on  our  church,  than  that  a  people  of  whose 
character,  thank  God,  sterling  honesty  is  the  distinctive 
feature,  should  have  reason  to  suspect  that  their  clergy  be- 
lieved one  thing  while  they  taught  another."  If  this  be 
true,  how  much  of  the  impotence  of  our  pulpits,  of  the 
irrehgion  of  society,  and  of  the  alienation  of  the  masses 
from  the  clergy,  may  be  traced  to  this  cause,  that  many 
are  not  believed  to  be  sincere  ! 

Further  ;  let  us  consider  the  influence  of  patronage. 
According  to  the  will  of  Christ,  as  declared  by  the  practice 
of  the  churches  which  were  under  the  guidance  of  apostles, 
the  pastors  were  chosen  by  the  churches.  Congregational 
churches  still  follow  the  apostolic  precedents  ;  and  the 
effect  is  excellent.  A  pastor  chosen  by  the  church  must 
generally  be  suited  to  it  in  all  respects.  When  thus  freely 
chosen,  he  is  likely  to  be  esteemed  and  valued  by  those 
who,  in  respecting  him,  justify  their  own  choice.  There 
may  be  a  minority  displeased  with  the  election,  but  they 
know  that  the  voices  of  the  majority  ought  in  equity  to 
prevail,  and  have  had  no  personal  collision  with  the  pastor. 
They  may,  therefore,  soon  be  won  by  him,  if  he  be  an. 
effective  minister ;  and,  in  fact,  earnest  and  affectionate, 
intelligent  and  faithful  men  are  usually  much  loved  and 
esteemed  by  the  best  and  most  influential  members  of  their 
churches. 

But  the  Anglican  pastor  is  chosen  without  the  concur- 
rence of  the  church,  and  often  against  its  declared  wishes, 
by  the  legal  patron.  The  following  is  the  distribution  of 
patronage  in  this  country.  The  Crown  presents  to  952 
benefices,  archbishops  and  bishops  to  1248,  ecclesiastical 
corporations  to  787,  dignitaries  to  1851,  colleges  to  721, 
and  private  patrons  to  5  0  9  6 .  ^  In  the  nomination  to  these 
benefices  the  people  are  not  consulted,  the  qualifications 
required  by  law  in  the  pastors  are  extremely  small,  the 
proofs  of  incapacity  -and  of  irreligion  in  the  candidate  must 
'  M'Culloch's  "  Statistics." 

K 


218         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

be  very  evident ;  and  if  the  bishop  refuses  a  presentee  with- 
out legal  grounds,  the  presentee  has  his  remedy  by  a  duplex 
querela  in  the  ecclesiastical  court,  and  the  patron  may  en- 
force his  right  by  a  quare  impedit  at  common  law.^  The 
efiect  of  this  state  of  the  law  is,  that  scarcely  any  presentee 
is  rejected  ;  children  may  be  brought  up  with  a  certainty 
that  they  shall  have  a  family  living,  and  advowsons  are  a 
valuable  marketable  property.  The  effect  of  the  veto 
granted  by  a  law  of  the  General  Assembly  to  the  churches 
of  Scotland  was,  till  it  was  reversed  by  the  law  of  the 
State,  most  remarkable.  It  led  serious  young  men  to  study 
for  the  ministry,  while  it  deterred  all  others  ;  and  secured 
evangelical  pastors  in  numbers  for  the  Scotch  parishes. 
The  unrestricted  patronage  of  England,  on  the  contrary, 
secures  a  constant  supply  of  worldly  pastors.  Compara- 
tively few  among  the  great  and  rich  become  the  disciples 
of  Christ,  his  doctrine  being  too  humbling,  and  his  yoke 
too  strict.  "  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the 
eye  of  a  needle  tlian  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  king- 
dcnn  of  God.''  The  rich  and  noble  patrons,  therefore,  who 
have  5096  livings  at  their  disposal,  are  likely  to  bestow 
the  largest  number  of  them  on  men  who  are,  like  them- 
selves, unconverted.  College  livings  are  given  without 
any  reference  to  pastoral  qualifications.  Any  man,  how- 
ever ungodly  in  his  habits,  who  becomes  a  good  scholar, 
may  obtain  a  fellowship  at  Oxford  or  Cambridge  ;  by  the 
thirty-third  canon  a  fellowship  is  a  title  for  ordination,  and 
when  obtained,  a  fellow  obtains  a  college  living  in  his  turn 
as  a  matter  of  right,  so  that  collegiate  patronage  of  721 
livings  must  materially  swell  the  body  of  ungodly  pastors 
in  the  Anglican  churches.  We  have  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  leaders  of  the  great  political  parties  in  the  State 
will  generally  be  such  men  as  appreciate  spiritual  religion. 
Mr.  Pitt  and  Lord  Liverpool,  who  have  been  among  the 
most  estimable  prime-ministers,  were  avowedly  opposed  to 
evangelical  views.  And  the  able  lawyers,  whom  party 
considerations  have  advanced  to  the  office  of  lord  chancel- 
lor, have  not  always  been  distinguished  by  rehgious  earnest- 
^  Burn,  vol.  i.  p.  156. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.   219 

ness.  The  Crown  patronage,  therefore,  of  952  hvings 
necessarily  forms  another  large  body  of  worldly  and  uncon- 
verted pastors.  Lastly,  when  the  prime-minister  and  his 
colleagues  in  office  are  w^orldly  men,  and  fronj  political 
considerations  select  worldly  men  as  bishops,  the  patronage 
of  these  worldly  bishops  must  still  increase  the  number  of 
unconverted  pastors  placed  over  the  churches  of  Christ  in 
this  land.  In  estimating  the  tendency  of  patronage,  we 
must  not  overlook  the  strong  inducement  which  patrons  of 
all  classes  have  to  provide  for  their  own  relations.  9581 
benefices,  excluding  952  in  the  patronage  of  the  Crown, 
are  at  the  disposal  of  patrons  who  have  children,  brothers, 
and  cousins,  to  provide  for.  Varying  in  value  from  50Z. 
to  1000^.  per  annum,  these  offer  prizes  to  young  men  of 
every  rank  in  life  ;  and  is  it  conceivable,  in  the  actual 
state  of  competition  for  employment,  and  the  extreme  diffi- 
culty with  which  parents,  especially  of  the  upper  classes, 
can  obtain  a  provision  for  their  children,  that  patrons  should 
not  give  their  family  livings  to  multitudes  of  young  men, 
with  slender  abilities,  poor  health,  and  no  spirituality  ?  We 
must  also  observe,  that  it  is  easier  for  a  clergyman  to  edu- 
cate his  sons  for  the  clerical  office  than  for  any  other  pro- 
fession. They  can  generally  superintend  themselves  the 
first  stages  of  a  classical  education.  Classical  schools 
abound  ;  and  as  the  lawyer  is  found  to  educate  his  sons  for 
the  law,  and  the  officer  for  the  army  and  navy,  so  clergy- 
men are  found  to  educate  their  sons  for  their  own  pro- 
fession. Thus  young  men  of  decent  habits,  but  without 
piety,  are  urged  and  almost  forced  by  their  circumstances 
into  a  profession  which  of  themselves  they  never  would 
have  chosen.  On  the  whole,  it  is  too  obvious  to  all  who 
inquire  into  this  subject,  that  the  English  clergy,  as  a  body, 
are  not  directed  to  the  ministry  by  their  peculiar  fitness  for 
it,  but  by  the  circumstances  which  render  that  step  con- 
venient. That  body  is  not  composed  of  able  and  pious 
men,  drawn  in  proportionate  numbers  from  all  classes  of 
the  country  in  mature  life  and  after  much  Christian  expe- 
rience (1  Tim.  iii.  6) ;  but  of  young  men,  who  have  from 
their  earliest  years  been  destined  by  their  parents  to  belong 


220         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

to  it,  just  as  in  Roman  Catholic  countries  the  younger 
children  of  the  nobility  are  destined  for  the  monastery  and 
the  convent,  because  it  is  convenient.  The  children  of 
patrons  and  of  rich  capitalists,  of  bishops  and  of  clergymen, 
recruit  the  ranks  of  the  clergy,  not  so  much  because  they 
have  given  themselves  up  to  the  service  of  Christ  and  of 
their  fellow-creatures,  as  because  they  have  not  ability  for 
law  or  medicine,  nor  spirit  enough  for  the  army  or  navy, 
nor  capital  enough  for  commerce,  nor  income  enough  to 
lead  an  idle  life.  Thus  the  ministry  in  the  Establishment 
is  permanently  corrupted  ;  and  it  would  be  against  all  the 
known  principles  of  our  nature,  and  in  defiance  of  universal 
experience,  to  expect  under  such  circumstances  that  the 
clergy  can  be  ever  generally  evangelical  and  earnest  men. 

While  absolute  patronage  thus  introduces  numbers  of 
unfit  men  into  the  ministry,  it  excludes  from  it  many  who 
would  be  its  brightest  ornaments.  Were  the  churches  to 
decide  upon  the  choice  of  their  pastors,  ability,  integrity, 
and  earnestness,  would  secure  to  each  young  minister  a 
post  of  usefulness  and  comfort ;  but  since  the  greatest 
number  of  benefices  in  the  land  are  inaccessible  to  any 
young  man  who  has  no  other  influence  than  that  of  char- 
acter, all  the  avenues  to  them  being  thronged  by  needy 
claimants,  who  are  sons,  brothers,  and  cousins  of  patrons, 
able  and  pious  young  men  are  necessarily  led  to  seek  em- 
ployment of  another  kind  ;  and  thus  while  the  State  secures 
a  perpetual  supply  of  unconverted  and  incompetent  pastors, 
it  excludes  from  the  pastoral  office  many  who  might  act 
most  powerfully  on  the  religion  of  the  nation. 

God  has  called  his  ministers  in  this  country  to  an 
honorable  but  arduous  work.  It  is  their  mission  to  main- 
tain the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  in  its  purity,  to  elevate  the 
piety  of  the  churches,  to  direct  their  energies,  and  call 
Christians  of  all  classes  to  combined  and  powerful  action 
in  the  service  of  the  Redeemer.  They  have  to  d*iend,  in 
this  day  of  mental  activity  and  fearless  research,  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  Scriptures,  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and  even 
the  being  of  God  ;  not  only  must  they  invade  the  careless- 
ness of  the  fashionable  classes,  and  bring  down  the  towering 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PASTORS.   221 

pride  of  nobles,  who  scorn  to  hear  that  they  are  perishing 
sinners,  who,  without  humble  faith  in  Christ,  must  lie 
under  the  wrath  of  God  forever,  but  they  have  to  address 
the  judgment  and  the  conscience  of  men  of  literature 
and  science,  lawyers,  physicians,  engineers,  and  editors — 
Goliaths  who  scorn  those  that  can  not  grapple  with  them 
with  a  giant  energy  like  their  o\vn,  and  who  are  not  to  be 
reduced  to  discipleship  by  any  child's  play.  They  have 
to  recover  to  Christ  Chartists  and  Socialists,  whose  hatred 
of  religion  is  embittered  by  their  detestation  of  the  political 
institutions  with  which  it  is  allied.  Mechanics  and  opera- 
tives— whose  rude  energy  is  no  more  to  be  drilled  by 
authority,  and  who  never  again  will  be  the  tame  human 
herds  which  in  other  days  the  pretenders  to  apostolical 
descent  could  drive  to  what  theological  pastures  they 
pleased — now  claim  a  brotherly,  frank,  and  respcflful 
attention  ;  while  the  thronging  myriads,  who,  in  the  cities 
and  manufacturing  districts  of  the  kingdom,  are  totally 
disconnected  with  the  churches  of  Christ,  can  not  be 
brought  to  listen  to  the  Gospel  without  much  self-denying 
assiduity. 

Never  were  such  varied  attainments  needed  in  pastors 
and  evangelists,  because  the  world  was  never  so  well- 
informed,  independent,  and  fearless.  Sound  criticism  of 
Scripture,  extensive  knowledge  of  men  and  things,  author- 
ship, preaching,  and  pastoral  activity,  are  all  requisite  to 
them,  if  they  are  not  to  be  despised  as  the  stupid  bonzes  of 
Foh-kien.  Antiquated  claims  to  an  apostolic  authority, 
transmitted  by  descent,  are  now  treated  with  merited  con- 
tempt as  absurd,  if  they  are  not  repelled  with  indignation 
as  a  barefaced  imposture.  Henceforth,  mind,  heart,  and 
character,  are  the  only  titles  to  consideration,  as  our  Lord 
has  prescribed.  Pastors,  therefore,  must  be,  above  all, 
experienced  Christians,  with  much  faith,  hope,  and  love, 
who  pray  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  therefore  obtain  what 
they  pray  for.  Laborious  students,  they  must  yet  be 
rather  men  of  the  world  than  men  of  the  cloister  ;  of  the 
cottage  and  the  work-shop  rather  than  of  the  drawing- 
room  ;  not  butterflies  who  have  fluttered  through  a  sunny 


222         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

day  over  a  paradise  of  roses,  but  soldiers,  who  in  the  storm 
and  strife  of  duty  have  learned  hardihood  ;  not  aristocrats, 
not  plebeians,  but  men  who,  taken  from  all  ranks,  belong 
to  all,  and  sympathize  with  all ;  a  class  who  by  their 
knowledge  and  wisdom,  their  virtue  and  their  zeal,  have 
risen  to  an  intellectual  and  moral  nobility  ;  the  successors 
of  Luther  and  Calvin,  of  Bunyan  and  Baxter,  of  Whitefield 
and  Wesley,  of  Scott  and  Martyn,  the  elite  of  the  nation 
for  piety  and  force. 

But  what  are  the  pastors  of  the  Anglican  Churches  in 
fact  ?  I  grieve  to  write  it.  There  are  men  among  them 
of  great  virtues  to  whom  I  gladly  do  homage.  1  know 
and  love  many  faithful,  energetic,  and  sincere  servants  of 
Christ ;  but  when  these  exceptions  are  subtracted,  what 
are  the  rest  ?  I  grieve  to  write  it.  Chosen  by  peers  and 
squires,  by  colleges  and  church-corporations,  by  chancellors 
and  State-made  prelates,  many  are  made  pastors  by  a 
corrupt  favoritism,  many  are  allured  to  an  uncongenial 
employment  by  the  income  which  it  offers  them,  and  many 
embrace  the  profession  of  a  pastor  because  they  are  too  dull, 
inert,  or  timid,  for  any  other.  They  have  scarcely  any 
theological  training,  they  are  pledged  to  all  the  errors  in 
the  prayer-book,  and  all  the  abuses  sanctioned  by  the 
union.  They  dread  reforms,  they  are  servile  to  patrons, 
they  are  intolerant  to  dissenters  :  their  zeal  is  crippled  by 
State  restrictions,  and  their  indolence  tempted  by  unbounded 
liberty  to  indulge  it.  Severed  from  the  body  of  the  people 
by  their  birth,  by  their  early  education,  by  their  college 
life,  by  their  aristocratical  association,  by  their  zeal  for 
their  ecclesiastical  prerogatives,  they  have  little  popular 
influence.  Lawyers,  men  of  science,  and  editors  of  news- 
papers, do  not  listen  to  them  ;  Chartists  and  Socialists 
disUke  and  despise  them  ;  they  scarcely  touch  the  operative 
millions  ;  they  make  few  converts  among  the  devotees  of 
fashion  ;  and  under  their  leadership  the  Christian  army  is 
inert,  timid,  and  unsuccessful. 

But  whenever  the  union  between  the  Church  and 
State  shall  cease,  patronage  and  State  restrictions  will 
cease  with  it ;  the  churches  will  recover  their  right   of 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  CURATES.    223 

self-government  and  the  nomination  of  their  pastors  ;  and 
the  pastors  having  no  preferment  to  expect  from  the  barons 
of  the  land,  vi^ould  identify  themselves  with  their  flocks, 
and  being  contented,  energetic,  and  affectionate,  wovld 
become  on  those  accounts  influential.  May  God,  in  his 
mercy,  after  terminating  this  unhallowed  union,  raise  up 
to  his  free  churches  such  pastors  as  may  surround  them- 
selves with  energetic  disciples  of  Christ ;  and  through  their 
combined  efforts  may  many  among  the  literary,  fashionable, 
and  laborious  classes,  now  alienated  from  the  Redeemer, 
be  led  to  serve  him  with  affectionate  and  devoted  zeal. 


Section  III. — Effects  of  the  JJnion  upon  Curates. 

Let  us  next  examine  the  effect  of  the  union  upon  the 
5230  curates  of  the  Establishment.  Were  patronage  at 
an  end,  ministers  being  dependent  on  the  approval  of  the 
churches,  each  able  and  pious  young  man  would  obtain  a 
pastoral  charge  ;  while  the  frivolous,  the  weak,  and  the 
ungodly,  would  be  rejected  by  the  congregations.  Hence, 
unfit  men  would  be  deterred  from  seeking  ordination. 
Such  was  the  effect  of  the  veto  law  in  Scotland,  which, 
leaving  to  ill-instructed  and  ungodly  youths  no  hope  of  em- 
ployment, and  rendering  employment  almost  certain  to  young 
men  of  sense,  energy,  and  Christian  principle,  exceedingly 
improved  the  class  of  candidates  for  the  ministry  in  that 
part  of  the  kingdom.  But  our  system  attracts  to  the 
ministry  the  incapable  and  the  indolent,  while  it  repels 
many  who  are  able  and  energetic.  Patronage  rules  every 
thing.  Paper  checks,  in  the  shape  of  subscriptions  to  arti- 
cles and  canons,  can  exert  very  little  influence  on  unscru- 
pulous young  men,  who  have  the  promise  of  livings ;  the 
required  testimonials  are  easily  obtained  by  any  man  not 
openly  immoral,  and  thus  almost  all  who  have  livings 
ready  for  them  can,  in  fact,  make  their  way  to  the  expect- 
ed preferment  through  all  the  needful  preliminaries.  The 
result  is,  that  the  churches  have  pastors  forced  upon  them 
by  the  patrons  from  these  five  classes : — 1.  College  fellows; 
2.  Political  adherents  of  the  government ;    3.  Sons  of  pa- 


224    EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

trons  ;  4.  Sons  of  wealthy  men,  who  pay  for  situations  for 
them  ;  and  5.  Sons  of  clergymen,  who  find  it  easier  to 
educate  their  sons  for  "  the  church"  than  for  any  other 
profession.  None  of  these  classes  are  sent  into  the  ministry 
because  of  their  zeal  and  capacity,  but  because  there  are 
livings  ready  for  them,  or  it  is  otherwise  convenient  :  and 
thus  the  Establishment  is  injured  by  the  admission  of 
many  pastors  utterly  unsuited  to  their  sacred  calling. 

It  might  seem  at  first  sight  that  the  churches  are  pro- 
tected from  the  intrusion  of  unfit  men  into  the  pastoral 
office  by  the  discretionary  power  of  ordination  allowed  to 
the  bishop  by  law.  On  this  point  Burn  thus  writes  : — 
"  Since  it  is  said  to  be  discretionary  in  the  bishop  whom 
he  will  admit  to  the  order  of  priest  or  deacon,  and  that  he 
is  not  obliged  to  give  any  reason  for  his  refusal,  this  im- 
plieth  that  he  may  insist  upon  what  previous  terms  of 
qualification  he  shall  think  proper,  consistent  with  law  and 
right."  But  these  last  words  seem  to  intimate  that  the 
friends  of  a  young  man,  to  whom  a  family  living  has  been 
promised,  would  have  a  legal  remedy  should  the  bishop  re- 
fuse to  ordain  him  without  assigning  some  legal  cause.  Tn 
point  of  fact,  I  believe  that  pious  bishops  ordain  young 
men  who  have  given  no  proof  of  piety  ;  and  bishops,  who 
in  their  charges  condemn  Anglo-Catholicism,  have  been 
said  to  ordain  young  men  who  do  not  conceal  their  Anglo- 
Catholic  views.  The  discretionary  right  of  ordination,  thus 
modified,  leaves  to  the  bishop  little  power  to  exclude  unfit 
men  of  rank  and  of  good  prospects,  but  is  only  exercised  now 
and  then  toward  some  unpatronized  candidate,  whose  views 
may  be  thought  by  him  to  be  too  Calvinistic  or  too  liberal. 

Let  us  now  see  upon  what  terms  a  young  man  obtains 
ordination.  By  canon  thirty-six  he  must  first  subscribe  to 
the  three  following  articles  : — 

1.  "That  the  queen's  majesty,  under  God,  is  the  only 
supreme  governor  of  this  realm  ...  as  well  in  all  spiritual 
or  ecclesiastical  things  or  causes  as  temporal,"  &c. 

2.  "  That  the  book  of  common  prayer  and  of  ordering 
of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  containeth  in  it  nothing 
contrary  to  the  word  of  God,'*'  &c. 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  CURATES.    225 

3.  "That  he  acknowledgeth  all  and  every  the  articles" 
(contained  in  the  book  of  articles),  "  being  in  number  nine- 
and-thirty  ...  to  be  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God." 

Then,  by  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  14  Charles  11.,  every 
preacher  must  "  openly  and  publicly  declare  his  unfeigned 
assent  and  consent- unto  and  approbation  of  the  said  (prayer) 
book,  and  to  the  use  of  all  the  prayers,"  &c.,  in  the  follow- 
ing terms  : — "  I,  A.  B.,  do  hereby  declare  my  unfeigned 
assent  and  consent  to  all  and  every  thing  contained  and 
prescribed  in  and  by  the  book  intituled  the  book  of  com- 
mon prayer,"  &c.  Thus,  while  yet  a  youth,  he  is  solemn- 
ly pledged  to  maintain  positions  which  will  not  bear  ex- 
amination, and  from  which  any  examination  would  probably 
force  him  to  dissent. 

At  the  same  time  he  comes  under  an  iron  power,  which 
sternly  forbids  the  smallest  approach  to  independent  thought. 
Christ  has  said  to  his  disciples,  "  Go  ye  hito  all  the  tcorld 
and  iweach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  f'  and  the  minis- 
ters of  Christ  are  charged  to  ''preach  the  ivord,  and  be 
instant  in  season  and  out  of  season:''  but  the  State  allows 
no  minister  to  preach  without  a  license  from  the  bishop. 
By  canon  thirty-six,  "  No  person  shall  be  suffered  to  preach 
in  any  parish  church  or  chapel,  or  in  any  other  place  with- 
in this  realm,  except  he  be  licensed  either  by  the  archbishop 
or  by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese."  By  13  and  14  Charles  II., 
"  No  person  shall  be  received  or  allowed  to  preach  as  lec- 
turer, unless  he  be  first  approved  and  thereunto  licensed  by 
the  archbishop  of  the  province  or  by  the  bishop  of  the  dio- 
cese." And  by  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  "  No  person  shall 
be  suffered  to  preach  in  any  church,  chapel,  or  other  place 
of  public  worship,  unless  he  be  first  approved  and  thereunto 
licensed  by  the  archbishop  of  the  province  or  the  bishop  of 
the  diocese." 

This  license  the  bishop  can  give  or  withhold  at  his  dis- 
cretion. The  Bishop  of  London  refused  to  license  the  Rev. 
Richard  Povah  to  the  lectureship  at  the  church  of  St. 
Bartholomew,  alleging  "  that  he  can  not  consistently  with 
his  duty  as  Bishop  of  London,  approve  of  him  as  a  fit  per- 
son for  such  a  lectureship."      Upon  which  Lord  EUenbor- 


226         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

ough  said,  "  There  is  no  instance  of  an  application  for  a 
mandamus  to  compel  a  bishop  to  approve,  we  can  only 
compel  him  to  inquire."  ^ 

By  this  arbitrary  power  the  bishop  can  exclude  a  sound, 
learned,  and  faithful  man  from  his  diocese  without  alleging 
any  reason  :  the  knowledge  of  which  power  must  tend  to 
make  all  the  young  men  who  wish  to  obtain  curacies  with- 
in the  diocese  conform  to  all  his  errors  and  prejudices. 

Their  independence  is  further  destroyed  by  the  power 
which  the  bishop  has  of"  revoking  his  license.  The  case 
of  Hodgson  V.  Dillon  decided  that  the  bishop  may  absolute- 
ly and  discretionally  withdraw  a  license  to  officiate  in  an 
unconsecrated  chapel  ;  and  in  the  course  of  his  judgment 
Dr.  Lushington  said,  "  No  clergyman  whatever  of  the 
Church  of  England  has  any  right  to  officiate  in  any  diocese 
in  any  way  whatever  as  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  En- 
gland, unless  he  has  a  lawful  authority  so  to  do ;  and  he  can 
only  have  that  authority  when  he  receives  it  at  the  hands 
of  a  bishop,  which  may  be  conferred  on  him  by  license 
when  the  clergyman  officiates  as  stipendiary  curate." 
«'  The  bishop  may  revoke  such  license  whenever  he  thinks 
fit,  according  to  a  discretion  not  examinable  by  the  ecclesi- 
astical judge."  ^  According  to  which  statement,  it  is  the 
settled  doctrine  of  the  ecclesiastical  law,  that  "the  ordinary 
may,  at  his  discretion,  displace  the  curate  by  withdrawing 
his  license  without  formal  process  of  law."  ^  Which  is, 
indeed,  confirmed  by  statute,  for,  by  1  and  2  Vict.  cap. 
106,  the  bishop  may  summarily  revoke  his  license.^ 

This  state  of  the  law  places  5230  curates  entirely  at 
the  mercy  of  the  bishops.  If  a  curate  is  too  evangelical 
or  too  friendly  toward  pious  dissenters,  or  denies  the  doc- 
trine of  baptismal  regeneration,  or  blames  the  canons,  or 
offends  the  great  by  his  faithful  preaching,  he  may  be  as 
blameless  as  Daniel  and  as  devoted  as  Paul,  but  the  bishop 
may  revoke  his  license  without  assigning  any  reason,  and 
may  expel  him  altogether  from  his  diocese.  The  worst 
felon  in  her  majesty's  dominions  can  not  be  condemned 
without  trial  before  a  jury  ;  but  a  minister  of  Christ,  of 

»  Burn,  i.  36.       *  lb.  p.  306^       ^  lb.  u.  74.        «  lb.  p.  75. 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  CURATES.         227 

the  highest  qualifications,  the  greatest  capacity,  and  the 
most  devoted  zeal,  nriay  be  driven  from  his  flock,  deprived 
of  his  income,  and  sent  forth  an  exile  from  the  diocese, 
without  any  trial — nay,  vrithout  any  reason,  except  the 
autocratic  fiat  of  the  ordinary.  And  this  has  been  re- 
enacted  v^^ithin  the  present  reign  I 

It  may  occur  to  the  reader  that  such  a  curate  would,  in 
reality,  sufTer  no  great  hardship,  since  he  would  instantly 
be  welcomed  by  other  bishops.  But  the  forty-eighth  canon 
enacts  as  follows  :  "  Curates  and  ministers,  if  they  remove 
from  one  diocese  to  another,  shall  not,  by  any  means,  be 
admitted  to  serve  without  testimony  of  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  whence  they  came,  in  writing,  of  their  honesty, 
ability,  and  conformity  to  the  ecclesiastical  laws  of  the 
Church  of  England."  When,  therefore,  a  bishop  revokes 
his  license,  and  drives  a  curate  from  his  diocese,  as  he  will 
not  countersign  any  testimonies  in  his  favor,  and  without 
his  testimony  no  other  bishop  can  canonically  receive  the 
curate,  the  arbitrary  act  which  expels  the  curate  from  one 
diocese  drives  him,  in  reality,  from  all,  and  sentences  him 
to  dissent  or  starvation.  Should  he  venture  to  preach 
without  a  license,  he  would  be  liable  to  excommunication ; 
whereupon,  after  forty  days,  a  writ  de  excmnmunicato  ca- 
-piendo  may  issue  against  him  out  of  Chancery,  and,  being 
imprisoned,  he  may  have  to  endure  all  the  consequences 
which  the  State  has  attached  to  episcopal  fulminations. 
It  is  not  clear  that  he  can  with  impunity  seek  a  provision 
for  his  family  even  as  a  layman,  for,  by  the  seventy-sixth 
canon,  "  No  man  being  admitted  a  deacon  or  minister  shall 
from  henceforth  voluntarily  relinquish  the  same,  nor  after- 
ward use  himself  in  the  course  of  his  life  as  a  layman,  upon 
pain  of  excommunication."  Excommunication  meets  him 
whether  he  exercise  his  ministry  or  renounce  it,  and  he 
must  either  satisfy  the  bishop  or  starve. 

Thus,  on  the  one  hand,  if  a  curate  conforms  himself  in 
every  respect  to  the  will  of  a  bishop,  zealously  upholds  the 
supremacy,  maintains  the  unerring  wisdom  of  the  prayer- 
book,  the  immaculate  truth  of  each  of  the  thirty-nine  ar- 
ticles,  and  the  authority  of  the  canons,   then  peace  and 


228         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

plenty  are  before  him  :  nay,  possibly  he  may  himself  climb 
to  the  pinnacles  of  ecclesiastical  greatness,  to  a  peerage  and  a 
palace  ;  but  if  he  maintains  the  authority  of  Christ  against 
the  spiritual  authority  of  the  State,  examines  with  hearty 
allegiance  the  truth,  the  doctrines,  and  the  discipline  of  the 
Establishment ;  if  he  condemns  the  authority  of  the  canons, 
and  in  any  way  comes  into  collision  v/ith  the  prejudices  and 
the  passions  of  the  diocesan,  then  he  is  at  the  mercy  of  an 
irresponsible  autocracy,  which  may  at  any  moment  ruin  his 
prospects  and  blight  his  fame.  Such  circumstances  inter- 
dict, if  I  mistake  not,  to  the  curates  of  England  all  fearless, 
generous,  and  independent  search  after  truth. 

I  have  noticed  before  the  influence  of  a  complicated 
system  of  ecclesiastical  law,  and  of  unrestricted  patronage 
in  the  same  direction. 

There  is,  further,  a  very  disagreeable  addition  likely  to 
be  made  to  the  character  of  a  young  curate  by  the  circum- 
stances of  his  condition.  Deterred  by  consequences  so  tre- 
mendous from  questioning  any  doctrine  of  the  prayer-book, 
he  must  defend  the  formula  of  his  ordination  to  the  priest- 
hood.     "  Pweceive  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  office  and  work 

of  a  priest Whose  sins  thou  dost  forgive,  they  are 

forgiven  ;  and  whose  sins  thou  dost  retain,  they  are  re- 
tained." By  these  words  he  is  tempted  to  believe  that  he 
has  received  the  Holy  Ghost  by  tbe  imposition  of  the  bishop's 
hands.  Then  he  is  called  to  ponder  the  ninth,  tenth, 
eleventh,  and  twelfth  canons,  which  condemn  as  schismatics 
all  dissenting  congregations,  and  excommunicate  those  who 
own  them  to  be  churches  of  Christ ;  he  reflects,  also,  that 
he  is  the  legal  pastor  of  the  parish  exclusively  patronized 
by  the  State  ;  and  when  to  this  is  added  his  exclusive 
training  at  an  exclusive  school  and  in  an  exclusive  college, 
with  exclusive  reading  and  exclusive  friendships,  and  the 
constant  recurrence  of  exclusive  charges  of  bishops  and 
archdeacons,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  each  young  curate 
vidll  imbibe  Anglo-Catholic  inflation.  More  especially  if 
he  has  been  thrust  upon  his  parish  in  order  to  secure  the 
family  living  ,  without  talent,  knowledge,  or  piety,  he  is 
almost  sure  to  protect  himself  against  his  non-conformist 


ON  MEMBERS  OF  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.  229 

rival  by  lofty  pretensions ;  boldly  and  blindly  denoimce 
dissent  as  schism,  and  thus  unite  with  his  timid  servility 
to  the  great,  an  arrogant  exclusiveness  toward  the  disciples 
and  ministers  of  Christ. 


Section  IV.  —  Influence  of  the  Union  upon  Members  of 
Anglican  Churches. 

It  is  the  will  of  Christ,  as  manifested  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, that  each  church  should  select  its  own  pastors,  with 
careful  regard  to  the  pastoral  qualifications  which  are  re- 
quired by  him ;  ^  but  the  Anglican  Churches  allow  strangers 
to  choose  their  pastors  for  them.  A  church  is  bound  to 
receive  none  but  a  pious  pastor  to  rule  over  it ;  ^  but  the 
Ajiglican  Churches  receive  multitudes  of  unconverted  pas- 
tors, because  the  State  has  given  to  patrons  the  right  to 
nominate  them.  To  be  without  the  services  of  a  faithful 
and  active  pastor  is  a  great  evil  to  any  church ;  but  it  is  a 
much  greater  evil  to  be  placed  ufider  the  guidance  of  an 
unsound  and  ungodly  one.  For  if  an  ungodly  pastor  is 
loved  and  followed  by  a  church,  he  leads  them  with  him- 
self to  destruction;  if  they  despise  and  hate  him,  they, 
probably,  learn  to  despise  and  hate  the  religion  itself  of 
which  he  is  the  unworthy  representative  ;  and  if  they  are 
indifierent  to  him  and  his  teaching,  they  often  sink  into 
complete  religious  ignorance  and  insensibility.  Sometimes 
a  church  has  thus  assented  to  a  succession  of  ungodly  pas- 
tors, generation  after  generation,  so  that  no  Gospel  light 
has  ever  broken  in  upon  the  irreligion  of  the  village  ;  and 
the  whole  population  has  crept  obscurely  to  the  grave  in 
total  ignorance  of  the  way  of  salvation.  Sometimes  a 
church,  more  culpable  still,  after  having  had  a  faithful 
pastor,  receives  from  the  legal  patron,  with  slothful  ac- 
quiescence, some  ungodly  nominee,  who  comes  to  contradict 
what  his  predecessor  taught,  and  to  neutrahze  the  effects 
of  a  faithful  ministry.      If  the  Anglican  Churches  have 

^  Acts  i.  15,  23-26 ;  vi.  3  ;   xiv.  23. 

2  Matt.  vii.  15-23;  John  x.  4,  5 ;  2  Cor.  xi.  3,  12-15;  Gal.  i. 
6-9;    1  Tim.  iii.  1-7;   Tit.  i.  5-9;   2  John  8-10. 


230    EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

been  led  thus  to  disregard  the  law  of  Christ  and  their 
spiritual  interests  from  a  penurious  desire  to  escape  the 
burden  of  maintaining  their  pastors  by  securing  the  State 
salaries,  this  reason  only  adds  to  their  guilt.  Christ's 
law  is  this  :  ''Let  hhn  that  is  taught  in  the  word  com- 
municate to  him  that  teacheth  in  all  good  thhigs 

Let  the  elders  tJiat  ride  well  be  counted  wwthy  of  double 
honor,  especially  they  who  labor  in  the  word  and  doctrine. 
For  the  Scripture  saith,  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle,  the  ox  tliat 
treadeth  out  the  corn  ;  .  .  .  .  and,  The  laborer  is  worthy 
of  his  reward.''^  When,  therefore,  the  churches,  in  order 
to  evade  this  duty,  lay  the  burden  upon  the  State,  they 
must  injure  themselves  by  their  neglect.  No  disregard  of 
duty  can  be  harmless  ;  and  every  Christian  in  the  Estab- 
lishment, by  consenting  to  make  the  State  support  his  pas- 
tor, instead  of  doing  it  himself,  is  doing  mischief  to  his  own 
Christian  character. 

Further ;  as  the  churches  have  relinquished  their  own 
right  of  nominating  their  pastors,  they  have  likewise  neg- 
lected to  maintain  Christ's  rights  over  them.  The  church 
of  real  believers  is  the  house  of  Christ,  over  which  he  alone 
has  the  right  to  rule,  according  to  the  following  statement 
of  St.  Paul :  ''Moses  verily  was  faithful  in  all  his  house, 
as  a  servant,  for  a  testimony  of  those  things  which  were 
to  be  spoken  after ;  but  Christ  as  a  son  over  his  own 
house ;  whose  house  are  we,  if  we  hold  fast  the  confi- 
dence and  the  rejoicing  of  the  hope  firm  unto  the  end.''^ 
But  the  Anglican  Churches  have  allowed  the  State  to 
usurp  his  authority.  A  stranger  rules  over  his  house. 
Laws  are  passed  by  worldly  politicians  to  direct  his 
churches  with  their  consent.  The  church,  as  the  bride  of 
Christ,  ought  jealously  to  maintain  his  dominion;  but  it 
has  consented  to  an  adulterous  alliance  with  the  State,  not 
from  affection,  but  for  money ;  and  the  State  pays  the 
money  solely  to  keep  the  church  in  subjection.  By  this 
faithless  consent  to  tranfer  to  the  State  the  authority  of 
Christ,  the  churches  necessarily  submit  to  a  disgraceful  neg- 

1  Gal.  vi.  6;   1  Tim.  v.  17,  18;   1  Cor.  ix.  11-14. 
«  Heb.  iii.  5}  x.  21  j   1  Tim.  iii.  15;  Matt.  xxiv.  46. 


ON  MEMBERS  OF  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.  231 

lect  or  desecration  of  the  ordinances  of  their  Lord.  Pas- 
tors and  people  having  resigned  to  the  stranger  the  control 
over  their  discipline,  ecclesiastical  courts  erected  under  the 
authority  of  the  State,  but  unknown  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment,  determine  their  whole  internal  administration.  Christ 
has  appointed  that  those  only  who  repent  and  believe  shall 
be  baptized  ;^  and  the  churches,  under  the  dictation  of  the 
State,  allow  all  the  children  of  all  parishes  to  be  baptized, 
though  neither  children  nor  parents  have  any  faith  or  piety. 
He  has  appointed  that  none  but  his  true  disciples  should 
receive  the  Lord's  Supper  in  commemoration  of  his  love, 
and  in  testimony  of  their  allegiance  ;^  but  the  churches, 
under  the  dictation  of  the  State,  admit  all  who  can  not 
legally  be  proved  to  be  heretical  or  immoral  to  receive  it, 
although  they  may  openly  oppose  evangelical  doctrine,  be 
devoted  to  worldly  pleasures,  have  no  family  religion,  be  of 
a  fierce,  schismatical  spirit,  and  exhibit  no  marks  whatever 
of  piety  in  their  lives.  The  church  and  the  world  are 
completely  fused  at  the  table  of  the  Lord.  The  theaters, 
the  ball-rooms,  and  the  race-courses,  may  pour  their  whole 
contents  into  the  assemblies  of  communicants,  and  be  wel- 
comed by  the  churches  as  "  members  of  Christ,  children  of 
God,  and  inheritors  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  If  any  un- 
godly person  "  creeps  into  the  church  unawares"  (Jude  4), 
such  a  person  ought  to  be  put  out.  From  all  fellowship 
with  such  the  churches  are  ordered  to  withdraw  ;  there 
must  be  no  communion  of  light  wdth  darkness,  no  concord 
between  Christ  and  Belial,  no  familiar  association  between 
Christians  and  the  devotees  of  pleasure  f  but  in  Anglican 
Churches  these  laws  are  disregarded.  Believers  are  yoked 
together  with  unbelievers  ;  the  righteous  with  the  unright- 
eous ;  the  worshipers  of  Christ  with  the  worshipers  of  Be- 
lial, in  all  their  church  acts.  Men  of  a  schismatical  spirit, 
who  cast  out  their  brethren,  fierce  successors  of  Diotrephes, 
violating  the  law  of  charity  with  shameless  party  zeal, 

1  Mark  xvi.  16;   Acts  ii.  38  ;  viii.  37;  x.  47. 

2  1  Cor.  xi.  27-29;  v.  11,  13;  2  Thess.  iii.  6,  14. 

3  2  Cor.  vi.  14-18;  Rom.  xvi.   17}  John  xv.  19  j  Gal.  v.  12} 
Rev.  ii.  14,  15. 


232    EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

kneel  side  by  side  with  Christ's  disciples  at  the  altar,  from 
which  the  most  estimable  and  faithful  brethren  of  dissent- 
ing churches  are  rudely  excluded.  The  covetous,  the 
railer,  and  even  those  who  are  generally  thought  to  be  for- 
nicators and  drunkards,  may  take  their  place  at  the  Lord's 
table  as  easily  as  in  their  pew  :  and  Anglican  Christians 
consent  to  all  this  !  Pastors  who  are  ignorant  and  even, 
irreligious,  remain  under  the  sanction  of  the  law  to  misrep- 
resent the  Gospel,  and  mislead  the  congregation  :  and  An- 
glican Christians  support  them  ! 

It  was  characteristic  of  the  early  churches,  that  they  held 
forth  the  word  of  life  to  the  ignorant,  shining  as  lights  in 
the  world  ;^  from  them  sounded  out  the  word  of  the  Lord  '^ 
their  faith  was  spoken  of  among  the  heathen  ;^  and  they 
were  epistles  of  Christ,  known  and  read  of  all  men.^  But 
Christians  in  the  Anglican  Churches,  satisfied  if  they  can 
secure  their  own  salvation,  do  little  for  others.  Enlight- 
ened congregations  allow  parishes  around  them,  in  which 
the  Gospel  is  not  preached,  to  remain  unvisited  and  unre- 
garded in  their  ignorance  and  vice.  They  no  more  seek  to 
convert  the  people  of  other  parishes,  than  if  those  people 
had  no  souls  to  be  saved.  Nay,  they  do  very  little  for  the 
ungodly  within  their  own  parishes.  Li  the  ten  thousand 
parishes  of  England,  how  few  Anglican  Christians  visit  the 
poor,  to  instruct  them,  or  distribute  the  Scriptures,  or  be- 
come Sunday-school  teachers  I  And  of  those  few  scarcely 
any  are  men  of  education. 

Inactive  toward  the  ignorant  and  the  unconverted,  An- 
glican Christians  have  also  little  spiritual  association  with 
each  other.  All  Christians  are  brethren,  but  they  have 
little  brotherly  intercourse.  They  ought  "to  excite  each 
other  to  love  and  to  good  works,  not  forsaking  the  assem- 
bling of  them.selves  together  ;"  but  except  that  they  meet 
with  all  the  parish  once  a  week  to  read  through  the  liturgy 
and  to  hear  a  sermon,  they  never  assemble  as  churches. 
What  church-meetings  do  they  hold  to  improve  their  dis- 
cipline, to  pray  with  one  another,  to  exhort  one  another,  to 

»  Phil.  ii.  15,  16.  '^  1  Thess.  i.  8. 

3  Rom.  i.  8.  -»  2  Cor.  iii.  2,  3. 


ON  MEMBERS  OF  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.  233 

consider  how  they  may  revive  rehgion  in  their  famiUes  and 
in  the  church,  to  devise  means  for  the  spiritual  improvement 
of  their  neighborhood  ? 

They  do  not  even  consult  together  for  the  removal  of  one 
of  the  great  evils  which  beset  them  as  churches.  They 
see  each  of  their  ministers  subscribing  "  That  the  book  of 
common  prayer,  &c.,  containeth  in  it  nothing  contrary  to 
the  word  of  God  ;"  and  "  That  he  acknowledgeth  all  and 
every  the  articles  being  in  number  nine-and-thirty  to  be 
agreeable  to  the  word  of  God."  ^  Thirteen  thousand  pas- 
tors have  thus  professed  their  complete  belief  in  the  doc- 
trines of  the  prayer-book  and  articles.  How  far  they  really 
believe  them  may  be  judged  by  the  following  sensible  re- 
marks of  Archdeacon  Paley  :  <'  They  who  contend  that 
nothing  less  can  justify  subscription  to  the  thirty-nine  arti- 
cles than  the  actual  belief  of  each  and  every  separate  prop- 
osition contained  in  them,  must  suppose  that  the  legislature 
expected  the  consent  of  ten  thousand  men,  and  that  in  per- 
petual succession,  not  to  one  controverted  proposition,  but 
to  many  hundreds.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  this 
could  be  expected  by  any  one  who  observed  the  incurable 
diversity  of  human  opinion  upon  all  subjects  short  of  demon- 
stration." That  the  thirteen  thousand  pastors  of  the  Es- 
tablishment can  not  believe  all  that  is  contained  in  the  ar- 
ticles and  prayer-book,  seems  to  me  as  certain  as  it  did  to 
Dr.  Paley  ;  but  it  is  no  less  certain  that  they  have  all  pro- 
fessed to  believe  them.  The  Bishop  of  Oxford  has  justly 
said,  "  I  am  sure  that  a  more  deadly  blow  could  not  be  in- 
flicted on  our  church  than  that  a  people,  of  whose  character, 
thank  God,  sterling  honesty  is  the  distinctive  feature,  should 
have  reason  to  suspect  that  their  clergy  believed  one  thing 
while  they  taught  another."  Now  the  Anglican  churches 
see  this  blow  continually  inflicted,  and  do  nothing  to  pre- 
vent it. 

Anglo-Catholics  and  evangelicals,  holding  the  most  oppo- 
site views,  grow  on  together  in  the  Establishment.  Each 
party  accuses  the  other  of  bad  faith,  violations  of  vows,  and 
treachery  to  the  church  ;  each  declaring  that  the  other 
^  Canon  36. 


234    EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

should  be  expelled  from  its  fold.  Both  maintain  the  exact 
orthodoxy  of  the  same  vast  compilation  of  doctrines  ;  both 
appeal  to  the  prayer-book.  New  recruits  are  added  daily 
to  both  armies,  and  the  new  levies,  fiercely  opposed  to  each 
other,  continue  to  subscribe  to  the  same  articles,  and  to  de- 
clare their  assent  to  the  same  prayer-book. 

Either  the  prayer-book  must  be  utterly  obscure,  or  one 
party  must  be  dishonest ;  yet  the  Christians  within  the  Es- 
tablishment, fettered  and  handcuffed  by  the  State,  remain 
mute  and  motionless  spectators  of  the  feud.  They  remain 
still  inactive,  though  ungodly  nominees  of  patrons  can  force 
their  way  into  the  national  pulpits  ;  though  pastors  con- 
victed of  delinquency  can  maintain  their  position  in  defiance 
of  public  censure  ;  though  discipline  is  wholly  relaxed  ; 
though  ungodly  persons,  armed  with  legal  right,  place  them- 
selves at  the  table  of  the  Lord  ;  though  anti-Christian 
canons  declare  dissenters,  however  pious,  to  be  excommuni- 
cated schismatics  ;  though  the  Establishment  never  removes 
an  abuse,  or  corrects  an  error,  has  no  self-government,  but 
is  doomed  to  perpetual  incapacity  of  advancement.  The 
State  has  robbed  them  of  their  rights  :  they  have  no  church 
functions  left. 

But,  indeed,  many  of  them  do  not  v^dsh  for  any  altera- 
tion in  their  circumstances  ;  the  system  of  servitude  to  the 
State  has  not  only  taken  away  their  liberty  of  action,  but 
also  their  value  for  it.  By  long  inactivity,  by  isolation  one 
from  another,  by  the  influence  of  those  pastors  whose  inter- 
ests and  whose  privileges  are  identified  with  the  support  of 
the  system  as  it  is,  by  a  conservative  political  dread  of  all 
innovation,  numbers  of  Anglicans,  it  is  to  be  feared,  are 
satisfied  with  their  bonds,  evade  the  force  of  the  Scriptures, 
shrink  from  a  free  and  fearless  examination  of  their  duty, 
are  tempted  to  justify  what  they  are  afraid  to  mend,  and 
exaggerate  the  mischiefs  of  dissent  to  make  their  own  inde- 
fensible system  less  intolerable. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  most  melancholy  to  contrast  what 
the  Anglican  churches  ought  to  be  with  what  they  are. 
They  ought  to  be  composed  of  "  saints  and  faithful  breth- 
ren," under  the  superintendence  of  able  and  faithful  pas- 


ON  MEMBERS  OF  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.  235 

tors.  They  ought  to  be  "  the  salt  of  the  earth  and  the 
light  of  the  world  ;"  "  epistles  of  Christ  known  and  read 
of  all  men  ;"  the  soldiers  of  truth  clothed  in  a  divine  pan- 
oply, and  earnestly  contending  for  the  faith  ;  each  separate 
member  an  evangelist  to  his  neighbors,  and  all  together 
aiming  at  the  conquest  of  the  whole  nation  for  Christ. 

But  they  are  a  confused  mass  of  believers  and  unbe- 
lievers, allowing  strangers  to  impose  upon  them  multitudes 
of  ungodly  pastors,  who  bring  a  spiritual  blight  upon  them, 
and  whose  ministry  they  nevertheless  support.  The  scrip- 
tural discipline,  which  is  essential  to  the  purity  and  vigor 
of  Christian  churches,  they  have  wholly  abandoned.  For 
the  plague-stricken  multitudes  round  them  they  do  almost 
nothing.  If  the  pastors  are  often  exclusive  and  schismat- 
ical,  so  are  some  of  them.  They  associate  freely,  both  at 
their  own  tables  and  at  the  Lord's  table,  with  his  enemies, 
from  whorai  they  ought  to  separate  ;  and  live  in  almost 
total  separation  from  his  nonconformist  followers,  with 
whom  they  ought  to  be  united.  JFew  are  evangelists  to 
the  poor  ;  few  teach  in  Sunday-schools,  and  of  these  few 
scarcely  any  are  educated  men.  They  see  round  them 
whole  villages  degraded  by  ignorance  and  vice,  and  suffer 
them  to  live  and  die  untaught  and  unwarned.  Family 
and  personal  religion  languishes.  Few  heads  of  families 
expound  the  Scriptures  to  their  children  and  servants,  or 
pray  with  them,  except  by  the  repetitions  of  a  book. 
Trained  in  so  heartless  a  manner,  the  children  of  religious 
parents  frequently  relapse  into  total  worldliness  ;  and  the 
world  recruits  its  forces  from  those  who  ought  to  have  be- 
come the  servants  of  the  Redeemer.  Upon  the  masses  of 
the  working  class,  the  myriads  of  fashion,  and  the  whole 
army  of  scientific  and  literary  men,  Anglican  Christians 
make  scarcely  any  impression,  while  a  latent  and  wide 
infidelity  is  making  unchecked  ravages  among  them.  In 
this  Laodicean  lukewarmness  the  churches  ought  to  repent, 
to  meet  for  discussion  and  mutual  exhortation ;  should 
unitedly  and  fervently  supplicate  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  begin  to  labor  for  the  conversion  of  sinners  and  their 
own  spiritual  improvement.      But  except  to  go  through  the 


236    EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

Sunday  services  they  never  meet  as  churches  ;  they  have 
no  brotherly  association,  no  social  prayer,  no  acts  of  humil- 
iation, no  effort  for  spiritual  revival. 

Nor  is  it  easy  to  see  how,  under  the  union,  any  great 
improvement  can  be  effected.  State  supremacy  and  aris- 
tocratic patronage  secure  that  the  Establishment  shall  con- 
tinue forever  a  worldly  corporation.  As  a  representative 
government  must  ever  reflect  the  attributes  of  its  constitu- 
ency, so  long  as  the  majority  of  the  people  are  worldly,  the 
State  must  be  worldly  too  :  a  worldly  State  must  generally 
raise  worldly  nominees  to  the  bench  of  bishops  ;  and  worldly 
bishops  will  ordain  without  scruple  young  men  as  worldly 
as  themselves.  Further,  as  the  patrons,  who  are  rich  and 
great,  are  likely  as  a  class  to  be  worldly,  and  the  pastors 
must  generally  resemble  the  patrons  by  whom  they  are 
chosen,  the  pastors  must  generally  be  worldly  ;  and  as  the 
churches  can  not  generally  rise  in  spirituality  beyond  their 
pastors,  the  churches  must  be  worldly  too.  So  that  worldly 
bishops  and  worldly  patrons  are  likely  to  secure  in  perpetuity 
worldly  pastors  and  worldly  churches  throughout  the  land. 

Section  V. — Injluence  of  the  Union  upon  Dissenters. 

The  State,  by  exalting  one  sect,  must  depress  the  rest. 
There  may  be  the  most  complete  toleration  which  is  com- 
patible with  any  Establishment,  and  dissenters  may  have 
access  to  all  the  honors  and  emoluments  connected  with 
civil  office,  yet  if  the  State  pays  the  established  clergy 
alone,  and  confers  upon  them  dignities  which  are  refused 
to  others,  it  bestows  on  their  sect  an  authority,  and,  for  a 
long  time  at  least,  a  superiority  of  numbers,  which  expose 
all  other  sects  to  proportionate  neglect  and  contempt. 
Fashionable  persons  will  in  every  country  belong  to  the 
religion  of  the  State.  No  man  of  fashion  would  hke  to 
be  a  Roman  Catholic  at  St.  Petersburg,  a  Protestant  at 
Madrid,  or  a  dissenter  in  London.  And  all  those  who  arc 
connected  with  the  fashionable  world,  even  remotely,  feel 
the  temptation  to  be  ashamed  of  any  sect  which  the  State 
has  excluded  from  its  favors. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  DISSENTERS.    237 

The  effect  of  this  State  preference  of  one  sect  is  to  lead 
it  to  an  undue  exaltation  of  itself  In  the  United  States, 
where  all  sects  are  legally  equal,  it  would  be  preposterous 
in  any  one  to  speak  of  all  the  rest  as  schismatics  ;  but 
when  a  sect  is  established,  it  may  instantly  assume  to  be 
"the  church"  within  that  country,  and  pronounce  its  lofty 
anathemas  upon  all  dissentients  from  it  as  presumptuous 
and  criminal.  Thus  the  language  of  the  English  Estab- 
lishment, by  its  canons  is  as  follows  :  Canon  9  :  "  Authors 
of  schis7n  in  the  Church  of  England  censured. — Whoso- 
ever shall  hereafter  separate  themselves  from  the  commu- 
nion of  saints,  as  it  is  approved  by  the  apostles'  rules  in  the 
Church  of  England,  and  combine  themselves  together  in  a 

new  brotherhood,  &c let  them  be  excommunicated 

ipso  facto y  Canon  10  :  "  Maintainers  of  schismatics  in 
the  Church  of  England  censured, — Whosoever  shall  here- 
after affirm  that  such  ministers  as  refuse  to  subscribe  to  the 
form  and  manner  of  God's  worship  in  the  Church  of  En- 
gland, prescribed  in  the  communioil-book,  and  their  adher- 
ents may  truly  take  unto  them  the  name  of  another  church 
not  established  by  law,  &:c let  them  be  excommuni- 
cated." Canon  11  :  "  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm  or 
maintain,  that  there  are  within  this  realm  other  meetings, 
assemblies,  or  congregations  of  the  king's  born  subjects, 
than  such  as  by  the  laws  of  this  land  are  held  and  allowed, 
which  may  rightly  challenge  to  themselves  the  name  of  true 
and  lawful  churches,  let  him  be  excommunicated."  Canon 
12  :  "Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm,  that  it  is  lawful 
for  any  sort  of  ministers  and  lay  persons,  or  of  either  of 
them,  to  join  together  and  make  rules,  orders,  or  constitu- 
tions in  causes  ecclesiastical  without  the  king's  authority, 
and  shall  submit  themselves  to  be  ruled  and  governed  by 
them,  let  them  be  excommunicated  ipso  facto''  By  these 
canons  with  their  titles  dissenters  are  termed  schismatics. 
The  charge  is  false.  There  are  schismatical  dissenters  as 
there  are  schismatical  Anglicans,  but  dissenters  are  not, 
as  such,  schismatical.  Schism  (from  Gxio\ia,  a  rent)  is 
division  among  the  disciples  of  Christ,  who,  as  one  flock, 
one  brotherhood,  one  body,  ought  to  be  united  ;  and  those 


238         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

who  cause  this  division  are  schismatics.^  Schism,  or  di- 
vision, arises  within  a  church  by  unbrotherly  tempers, 
when  its  members  quarrel  with  each  other  ;  ^  it  arises  when 
any  members  of  churches  maintain  dangerous  errors,  which 
force  faithful  men  to  protest  against  them  ;  ^  it  arises  when 
any  members  of  churches  oblige  their  fellow-Christians  to 
separate  from  them  by  their  violation  of  the  plain  com- 
mands of  God  ;  *  and  it  arises  when  any  Christians,  on  any 
account,  refuse  to  associate  with  their  fellow-Christians 
who  are  sound  in  faith  and  devoted  in  their  practice.^  But 
when  Christians  in  a  brotherly  spirit  maintain  the  doctrines 
of  the  Gospel  and  obey  the  commands  of  Christ,  they  are 
no  schismatics  ;  and  if  any  schism  arises  in  consequence  of 
their  fidelity,  those  who  oppose  truth,  and  not  they,  are  its 
authors.^  According  to  these  plain  truths,  Anglicans  are 
more  schismatics  than  dissenters.  Dissenters  are  contend- 
ing for  a  sound  ministry  in  opposition  to  the  mass  of  un- 
sound doctrine  admitted  through  patronage  into  the  pulpits 
of  the  Establishment ;  but  Anglicans  recognize  and  sup- 
port these  unsound  ministers.  Dissenters  insist  upon  a 
regard  to  the  authority  of  Christ  in  opposition  to  State-su- 
premacy :  but  Anglicans  uphold  the  supremacy.  Dissent- 
ers claim  an  obedience  to  the  laws  of  Christ  respecting  the 
administration  of  the  churches  ;  Anglicans  overlook  them. 
And  when  dissenters  do  this  in  a  brotherly  spirit,  they  are 
no  more  guilty  of  schism  than  Paul  was  when  he  with- 
stood Peter  to  the  face  at  Antioch.''  It  is  not  schism  to 
maintain  truth,  but  to  oppose  it ;  it  is  not  schism  to  execute 
Christ's  laws,  but  to  disregard  them.  And,  I  repeat  it, 
that  Anglicans  of  a  brotherly  spirit  are  therefore  more 
schismatical  than  dissenters  of  a  brotherly  spirit.  Fur- 
ther ;    as   Christ  has  never  commanded   in    Scripture,   or 

^  John  X.  16;  Matt,  xxiii.  8;  Eph.  iii.  15;  Heb.  ii.  11,  12; 
Eph.  i.  22,  23  ;  iv.  1,  5  ;  John  xvii.  20,  21  ;  Rom.  xiv.  1  ;  xv.  5-7 ; 
1  Cor.  i.  10. 

"  Rom.  xvi.  17;  1  Cor.  i.  10;  ii.  3;  xi.  18,  19;  xii.  25;  Gal. 
v.  ^;  3  John  9,  10.  -^  Gal.  ii.  11-13;   2  John  9-11. 

*  2  Thess.  iii.  6,  14.  ^  Gal.  ii.  12;  Jude  19. 

6  Matt.  x.  32-38;  Rom.  xvi.  17;  Gal.  v.  1 ;  2  Thess.  ii.  15. 

^  Gal.  U.  11. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  DISSENTERS.    230 

sanctioned  by  any  precedent,  the  agglomeration  of  many 
churches  into  one  ecclesiastical  corporation,  nor  allowed  the 
union  of  such  corporation  with  the  State,  to  dissent  from 
these  associations,  with  charity  toward  those  who  consent 
to  them,  is  no  division  in  the  church  of  Christ.  And  if  any 
schism  arise  from  their  dissent,  its  authors  are  not  those 
who  reject  doctrines  and  practices  which  they  know  to  be 
contrary  to  the  will  of  Christ,  but  those  who  make  an 
assent  to  these  doctrines  and  practices  the  condition  of  com- 
munion with  them. 

Yet,  however  inconsiderate  and  false  this  charge  against 
dissenters  may  be,  it  is  brought  against  them  by  the 
Establishment  itself,  for  these  canons  were  passed  by  a 
synod  of  the  province  of  Canterbury  in  1603,  received  the 
royal  sanction,  and  were  imposed  by  authority  of  the 
Crown,  upon  both  the  provinces  of  Canterbury  and  York. 
Each  bishop  when  appealed  to  must  enforce  them  ;  each 
minister  when  so  enjoined  by  the  bishop  must  submit  to 
them ;  they  are  the  ecclesiasticaf  laws  which  bind  the 
clergy  ;  and  the  Anglican  Church  has  made  the  following 
enactments  respecting  them  : — 

"  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  assert  that  the  sacred  synod 
of  this  nation,  in  the  name  of  Christ  and  by  the  king's 
authority  assembled,  is  not  the  true  Church  of  England  by 
representation,  let  him  be  excommunicated." 

"  Whosoever  shall  affirm  that  no  manner  of  person, 
either  of  the  clergy  or  laity,  not  being  themselves  particu- 
larly assembled  in  the  said  sacred  synod,  are  to  be  subject 
to  the  decrees  thereof,  &c.  ...  let  him  be  excommuni- 
cated."— Canons  139,  140. 

All  clergymen,  therefore,  who  disown  the  authority  of 
these  canons,  are  liable  to  excommunication  and  to  im- 
prisonment by  the  writ  cle  excommunicato  capiendo. 

Without  the  aid  of  the  union,  these  canonical  fulmina- 
tions  would  be  simply  ridiculous  ;  but  when  solemnly  pro- 
mulgated by  a  synod  of  the  State-paid  clergy  as  the  doctrine 
of  the  national  church,  they  attach  the  stigma  of  schism  to 
dissenters  in  the  minds  of  myriads.  Under  the  shelter  of 
these  canons,  bishops  proclaim  them  in  their  charges  to  be 


240    EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

schismatics,  clergymen  echo  it  from  their  pulpits,  and  even 
liberal  men  in  the  Establishment  are  afraid  openly  to  deny 
it.  By  aid  of  the  union,  the  Establishment,  rising  above 
all  competition,  can  loftily  look  down  upon  all  other 
churches  as  sectaries.  "  This  is  not  a  mere  State-church," 
says  the  excellent  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  "  hut  the  religion  of 
Christ  our  Lord  as  established  by  his  providence  and 
grace  in  Great  Britain  in  the  second  century.  .  .  .  the 
Christian  religion  wisely  and  mildly  established  by  a 
Christian  government.  Much  less  is  our  church  a  secta- 
rian body,  as  some  would  call  it ;  that  is  a  small  number 
of  persons  who  have  cut  themselves  off  from  the  mass  of 
Christians  by  certain  peculiarities  ;  but  the  national  church 
of  the  government,  nobles  and  people  of  our  religious 
country."  ^ 

This  doctrine,  originated  and  sustained  by  the  union, 
besides  being  in  the  highest  degree  unjust  to  dissenters, 
inflicts  upon  them  many  injuries. 

Persons  thus  trained  from  childhood  to  look  upon  dis- 
senters as  schismatics,  whom  they  should,  according  to  the 
apostle's  command,  avoid  (Rom.  xvi.  17),  are  afraid  to 
hear  the  Gospel  from  their  lips.  Were  a  dissenting  min- 
ister to  open  a  chapel  for  worship  in  any  large  village 
where  there  is  a  moral  and  benevolent  rector,  whose 
doctrine  is  unsound  and  whose  life  is  worldly,  few  among 
the  villagers  would  dare  to  hear  the  schismatic.  Were  the 
two  ministers  upon  the  footing  of  legal  equality,  as  in  a 
village  of  the  United  States,  the  multitude  would  flock  to 
hear  the  Gospel ;  but  here,  where  the  State  maintains  the 
worldly  pastor  and  frowns  upon  the  evangelist,  his  doc- 
trine is  suspected,  his  person  is  despised,  and  he  can  not 
gather  a  congregation.  A  similar  spirit  has  hitherto 
impeded  the  evangelic  labors  of  dissenters  in  every  city  of 
the  kingdom. 

As,  however,  memhers  of  the  EstabHshment  may  hear  a 

dissenting  minister  without  paying  a  very  heavy  penalty 

to  society  in  the  present  day  for  the  liberty  which  they 

assume,  those  of  the  upper  classes  whose  piety  has  con- 

^  Farewell  Charge,  May,  1825,  pp.  22,  23. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UxNION  UPON  DISSENTERS.    211 

quered  their  prejudices  will  steal  into  a  chapel  where  an 
experienced  and  able  dissenter  so  expounds  the  Gospel  as 
to  enlarge  their  views  and  warm  their  Christian  affections 
more  than  the  neighboring  ministers  of  the  Establishment. 
But  no  such  pious  and  liberal  Anglicans  ever  join  their 
nonconforming  brethren  at  the  table  of  the  Lord.  They 
will  hear  able  and  eloquent  dissenters,  but  to  become  dis- 
senters themselves  would  be  so  offensive  to  the  class  with 
which  they  usually  associate,  and  would  expose  them  to 
such  a  storm  of  reproach,  that  not  one  in  a  thousand  has 
the  courage  to  come  to  that  decision ;  while  those  few 
who  do  are  usually  represented  as  persons  of  extreme  and 
culpable  eccentricity. 

Similar  influences  act  upon  wealthy  dissenters  them- 
selves. When  the  possession  of  large  fortunes  has  opened 
the  way  for  them,  and  still  more  for  their  children  to 
fashionable  society,  their  dissent  is  the  chief  barrier  to  be 
removed.  The  aristocracy  is  almost  entirely  devoted  to 
the  Establishment.  Independently*  of  obvious  political 
considerations,  the  system  which  has  the  favor  of  the 
Crown  and  the  smiles  of  the  government,  and  which 
includes  within  it  prelates,  peerages,  and  palaces,  attracts 
them  far  more  than  a  vulgar  Presbyterianism  and  a  still 
more  democratic  Independency.  Since,  therefore,  those 
w^ho  aim  at  admission  into  this  refined  and  noble  society 
must  leave  that  plebeianism  behind  them,  the  sons  of 
wealthy  dissenters  very  often  spurn  the  communion  of  their 
fathers,  and  by  an  enthusiastic  support  of  the  union  prove 
their  title  to  glitter  in  those  aristocratic  circles  from  which 
nonconformity  is  excluded 

Perhaps  the  constant  accession  of  poor  persons  to  the 
ranks  of  dissent  by  faithful  preaching,  and  the  constant 
loss  of  the  children  of  the  wealthy  may  not  exercise  an 
unfavorable  influence  upon  the  spirituality  of  the  dissenting 
churches ;  but  at  the  same  time  they  must  be  considerably 
embarrassed  and  impeded  in  their  operations  by  the  fact 
that  the  w^ealth  which  was  once  employed  by  their  parents 
to  support  their  ministers,  their  schools,  their  missions,  and 
their  poorer  members,  is  continually  passing  over,  by  the 

L 


242         EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  PERSONS. 

defection  of  the  sons,  to  the  aid  of  those  who  condemn  them 
as  mischievous  schismatics. 

Beino-  thus  impoverished  by  the  indirect  influence  of  the 
EstabHsiiment,  they  are  further  taxed  to  support  it. 

As  the  State  is  the  owner  of  the  ecclesiastical  property 
by  which  it  maintains  the  incumbents  of  the  Establish- 
ment, upon  condition  of  services  to  be  rendered  by  them  in 
return,  it  has  a  right  to  resume  those  funds  when  it  finds 
that  this  application  of  them  is  both  unscriptural  and  in- 
jurious. When  the  State  discovered  that  the  ministry  of 
Catholic  priests  was  injurious  to  the  country,  it  transferred 
its  ecclesiastical  funds  to  Protestant  pastors  with  perfect 
justice  ;  and  with  equal  justice  might  it  now  transfer  them 
to  schoolmasters,  or  employ  them  for  any  other  useful  object, 
upon  discovery  that  their  present  use  is  mischievous.  Un- 
der these  circumstances,  the  application  of  the  ecclesiastical 
rent-charges  to  the  maintenance  of  the  clergy  of  one  sect, 
deprives  dissenters  of  their  share  of  the  benefit  which  all 
miight  receive  from  their  application  to  common  objects. 
But  church-rates  are  a  much  more  direct  tax  upon  them  ; 
and  believing,  as  they  do,  that  the  churches  of  the  Estab- 
lishment are  crippled  and  enfeebled  rather  than  benefited 
by  the  patronage  of  the  State,  the  withdraw-al  of  which 
patronage  would  lead  to  a  revival  of  religion  throughout 
the  kingdom,  they  must  feel  it  hard  to  be  made  to  contrib- 
ute by  their  industry  to  the  support  of  a  union  which  they 
know  to  be  contrary  to  the  will  of  Christ,  and  prejudicial 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  nation. 

For  seeking  to  destroy  this  union  they  are  reproached 
with  being  political  ;  but  how  can  they  dissolve  a  political 
arrangement  except  by  political  means  ?  How  can  they 
bring  the  State  to  sound  legislation  on  this  subject  except 
by  meetings  and  petitions  ?  The  political  nature  of  the 
union  compels  those  who  seek  its  removal  to  engage  in 
politics.  And  if  P^oman  Catholics  and  infidels  feel  the 
grievance  too,  and  seek  its  removal  for  their  own  reasons, 
evangelical  dissenters  may  no  more  justly  be  accused  of 
fraternizing  with  them  in  these  eflbrts,  because  they  vote 
and  act  on  the  same  side,  than  evangelical  Anglicans  can 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  DISSENTERS.    243 

be  accused  of  fraternizing  with  gamblers  and  profligates, 
because  their  votes  are  blended  with  the  votes  of  some 
profligate  conservatives  in  sujDport  of  the  Establishment. 

If  the  necessity  of  political  action  to  separate  the  Church 
from  the  State  does  further  lead  some  dissenters  to  enter 
more  deeply  into  other  political  questions  than  is  good  for 
them,  this  furnishes  a  new  reason  why  they  should  as 
speedily  as  possible  destroy  the  union,  because  then  this 
temptation  to  rush  into  the  strife  of  party  politics  would  be 
withdrawn. 

But  in  whatever  degree  dissenters  ofiend  by  their  asso- 
ciation with  irreligious  politicians  or  by  their  bitterness  of 
spirit,  Anglican  Christians  must  share  in  their  guilt, 
because  they  have  driven  them  to  both.  Upon  the  remov- 
al of  the  union  both  would  cease,  and  the  diiierent  denomi- 
nations of  England,  as  diiierent  denominations  in  the  United 
States,  forsaking  political  aims  and  the  fierceness  of  party 
strife,  would  act  in  harmony,  to  the  great  improvement  of 
the  churches,  and  to  the  comfort  of  the  country  at  large. 

Let  us  now  recapitulate  the  evils  which  the  union  inflicts 
upon  dissenters.  By  exalting  a  rival  denomination  it  neces- 
sarily depresses  them,  and  by  branding  them  as  schismatics 
shuts  tbem  out  from  the  society  and  the  sympathy  of  their 
fellow-Christians.  It  impedes  their  efibrts  to  instruct  the 
ignorant ;  it  allures  the  children  of  their  wealthier  members 
to  desert  them,  and  thus  impoverishes  their  ministers,  their 
schools,  their  colleges,  and  their  missions ;  it  deprives  them 
of  their  share  of  advantage  from  the  ecclesiastical  property 
of  the  nation  ;  it  forces  them,  by  the  payment  of  church- 
rates,  to  support  an  ecclesiastical  system  which  they  con- 
demn ;  and,  by  compelling  them  to  seek  a  political  reme- 
dy for  a  great  political  grievance,  it  exposes  them  to  the 
censure  and  dishke  of  their  fellow-Christians,  as  a  turbulent 
political  party,  who  merit  the  severest  reprehension. 


CHAPTER  II. 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

We  have  now  to  consider  the  influence  of  the  union  on 
the  progress  of  true  religion  in  our  country.  Its  principles, 
as  we  have  seen,  are  corrupt  and  unscriptural ;  its  influence 
upon  various  important  classes  of  men  is  noxious  ;  and, 
lastly,  it  injures  various  great  interests  of  the  country  con- 
nected with  religion.  In  the  progress  of  our  inquiry  we 
shall  see  that  it  does  not  much  increase  the  number  of 
Christian  ministers,  that  it  prevents  their  wise  distribution 
through  the  country,  that  its  resources  are  ill  applied,  that 
it  maintains  corruption  in  doctrine,  that  it  has  ruined 
church  discipline,  that  it  hinders  the  evangelization  of  the 
country,  that  it  perpetuates  schisms  in  the  churches,  that 
it  renders  the  reformation  of  the  Establishment  impossible, 
that  it  impedes  the  progress  of  religion,  that  it  embarrasses 
the  government,  and  that  it  lends  strength  to  all  the  papal 
establishments  of  Europe. 

Section  I. — Influence  of  the  JJnion  on  the  Number  of 
Ministers. 

Too  much  has  been  said  and  thought  of  the  mere  mul- 
tiplication of  ministers.  Bad  ministers  are  the  greatest 
enemies  to  the  cause  of  Christ ;  and  while  they  profess  to 
lead  men  to  eternal  life,  rather  conduct  them,  by  their 
preaching  and  example,  to  eternal  destruction.  If  the 
State  were  to  render  its  rectors  and  vicars  as  numerous  as 
the  monks  and  friars  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies, it  would  only  increase  the  irreligion  of  the  country, 
supposing  these  incumbents  to  be  irreligious.  Nothing 
whatever  is  gained  to  the  cause  of  religion  by  the  multi- 


UPON  THE  NUMBER  OF  MINISTERS.  245 

plication  of  unconverted  ministers.  Of  what  use  was  it  to 
the  Jews  before  the  destruction  of  their  nation,  that  tliose 
rehgious  teachers  were  multiphed,  of  whom  Christ  said, 
''  Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites  !  for 
ye  shut  up  the  kingdom  of  heaveii  against  men :  for  ye 
neither  go  in  yourselves,  neither  suffer  ye  them  that  are 

entering  to  go  in Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pliari- 

sees,  hypocrites  !  for  ye  compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one 
proselyte,  and  ivhen  he  is  'made,  ye  make  him  tivofold 
more  the  child  of  hell  than  yourselves.''  ^  They  multiphed, 
indeed,  religious  ceremonies  over  the  land,  but  God's  judg- 
ment of  them  was,  "  In  vain  do  they  ivorsliip  me,  teaching 
for  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men.''  And  our  Lord 
declared  the  end  of  them  and  their  disciples  by  saying, 
''Let  them  cdone:  they  be  blind  leaders  of  the  blind:  and 
if  the  blijid  lead  the  blind,  both  shall  fall  into  the  ditch."  ^ 
Pompous,  bigoted,  worldly,  sporting,  dancing,  covetous, 
vicious,  ignorant,  self-indulgent,  or  idle  incumbents,  not 
called  to  the  ministry  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  not  owned  as 
ministers  by  Christ,  ignorant  of  the  Gospel,  and  as  much 
enemies  to  true  religion  as  Paul  was  when  he  was  at  once 
a  punctilious  Pharisee  and  a  furious  persecutor,  can  only 
misrepresent  religion,  perpetuate  spiritual  death  in  the 
churches,  and  make  the  Gospel  hateful  to  the  rest  of  the 
world.  They  harden  the  irreligious  in  their  profanity ; 
they  make  numbers  think  that  all  religion  is  hypocrisy  ; 
they  oppose  the  disciples  of  Christ ;  and  they  conceal,  by 
a  decent  religious  ceremonial,  the  spiritual  destitution  of 
the  country  from  those  who  would  otherwise  strive  to  re- 
move it.  If  no  ungodly  persons  were  permitted  to  bring 
their  children  to  be  baptized,  or  were  admitted  to  the 
Lord's  Supper,  or  could  become  ministers,  if  all  ungodly 
communicants  and  ministers  could  be  wholly  put  out  of 
the  churches  according  to  divine  command  (1  Cor.  v. 
11—13),  the  churches  of  Christ  in  this  country,  though 
perhaps  greatly  reduced  in  the  number  of  their  members, 
would  be  in  much  better  circumstances  for  preaching  Christ 
to  the  world.  In  examining,  therefore,  the  union,  let  us 
^  Matt,  xxiii.  13,  15.  ^  jyiatt.  xv.  9,  14. 


246       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

rather  ask  the  character  of  such  ministers  than  their  num- 
ber. Yet,  we  ought  to  consider  their  number  Hkewise. 
If  the  Anghcan  churches  have  sacrificed  their  Hberty,  their 
purity,  their  zeal,  their  discipUne,  and  their  concord  with 
other  churches,  for  the  sake  of  their  union  with  the  State, 
how  much  have  they  gained  in  the  matter  of  numbers  by 
the  union  ? 

The  whole  number  of  benefices  is  10,533  ;  ^  the  number 
of  curates  is  5230  ;  ^  and  thus  the  number  of  the  officiating 
clergy  is  somewhat  above  15,763.  Mr.  Horsman,  includ- 
ing various  dignitaries  and  heads  of  colleges,  states  the 
whole  number  of  clergy  in  England  and  Wales  to  be 
16,810.3  But  of  these,  3087  "having  no  duties  to  at- 
tend to,"  the  number  of  the  working  clergy  is  reduced  to 
12,923  for  10,533  benefices,  forming  11,077  parishes. 
As  many  of  these  benefices  have  been  created  by  individual 
zeal,  and  many  of  the  curates  are  furnished  by  the  "  Pas- 
toral Aid  Society,"  the  "  Curates'  Aid  Society,"  and  other 
voluntary  sources,  all  the  working  clergy  are  not  provided 
by  the  State.  However,  let  us  assume  that  the  State 
provides  12,923  ministers  for  16,000,000  of  the  popula- 
tion, afibrding  one  member  to  each  1238  persons.  This 
is  a  large  supply  ;  and  if  all,  or  even  half  of  these  ministers 
could  be  thought  to  be  converted  men,  it  would  make 
Christians  bear  very  much  before  they  took  a  step  to 
diminish  their  number.  But,  alas  I  we  have  too  little 
ground  for  that  supposition,  whether  we  consider  the  char- 
acters of  the  young  men  at  the  Universities,  the  patrons 
who  select  them,  the  reasons  for  which  so  many  "  go  into 
the  church,"  the  number  of  pulpits  ofiered  to  the  "Church 
Missionary  Society,"  the  number  of  clerical  subscribers  to 
the  "  Bible  Society,"  or  the  proportion  of  reputed  evangeli- 
cal clergymen  in  almost  any  neighborhood  of  almost  any 
county.  However,  whatever  their  merit,  the  dissolution 
of  the  union  will  not  lessen  their  numbers  so  much  as  many 
ignorantly  suppose. 

1  M'Culloch,  vol.  ii.  p.  396.  ^  jbjj^  p   4^2. 

^  Horsman,  "  Speech  on  the  Bishopric  of  Manchester  Bill," 
p.  20. 


UPON  THE  NUMBER  OF  MINISTERS.  247 

To  form  a  sound  opinion  on  this  point,  we  have  to  con- 
sider what  is  already  done  by  free  churches. 

The  following  table  (p.  248)  shows  the  number  of 
ministers  of  three  evangehcal  denominations  in  the  year 
1831,  since  which  they  have  considerably  added  to  their 
number. 

But  since  1831  the  evangelical  free  churches  have 
greatly  multiplied.  In  1838,  Mr.  Conder  stated  the  Con- 
gregationalist  churches  to  be  1840  ;  the  Methodist  congre- 
gations of  all  classes  to  be  4239  ;  and  the  evangelical 
Presbyterian  churches  to  be  113.^  The  Baptist  churches 
in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  now  amount  to  1872;^  and 
deducting  90  Scotch  and  41  Irish  churches,  there  remain 
1741  in  England  and  Wales.  Hence  the  number  of  evan- 
gelical free  churches  in  England  and  Wales,  of  four  denom- 
inations, is  now  as  follows  : — 

Congx-egationalist 1 840 

Baptist 1741 

Methodist 4239 

Presbyterian 113 

7933 
Moravian,  Lady  Huntingdon's  Connection,  &c.  say         17 

Total  free  churches  of  England  and  Wales 7950 

If  now  we  deduct  50  from  this  number,  as  being  with- 
out regular  ministers,  the  number  of  the  ministers  of  free 
churches  will  be  about  7900.  Mr.  Conder  represents  the 
number  of  attendants  in  these  congregations  to  be  above 
3,000,000,  and  thinks  that  they  represent  a  population  of 
4,500,000.3  Assuming  that  4,000,000  of  the  population 
are  connected  with  these  7950  churches,  then  4,000,000 
maintain  7900  ministers,  i.  e.  one  minister  for  each  506 
of  the  hearers. 

The  number  of  ministers  maintained  by  the  Wesleyan 
body  in  connection  with  the  Conference,  is   1010,  besides 

^  Conder's  View  of  all  Religions,  p.  421. 

2  Baptist  Manual  for  1846,  p.  38. 

^  Conder's  View  of  all  Religions,  p.  421. 


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UPON  THE  NUMBER  OF  MINISTERS.  249 

175  aged  or  infirm,  and  the  number  of  members  is  339,379, 
so  that  there  is  one  minister  to  each  336  members. 

In  1837,  Mr.  M'Culloch  stated  the  number  of  Protest- 
ant congregations  in  Scotland  to  be  as  follows  : — 

Summary  of  the  Congregations  of  Scotland^  1837. 
Established  Church 1 023 

Presbyterian  Dissenters 541 

Scottish  Episcopalians 72 

English  Episcopalians 4 

Independents 88 

Other  Sects 40 

Total  not  connected  with  the  Establishment,  745  ; 
majority  of  the  Establishment,  278.^ 

But  the  number  of  the  free  churches  has  since  then 
greatly  increased.  Not  long  ago  I  was  furnished  by  a 
friend  in  Scotland  with  the  following  summary  : — 

Ministers  of  the  Establishment 1 105 

„  Free  Church 625 

„  Associate  Synod 393 

5,  Original  Seceders 34 

„  Relief  Synod 115 

„  Cameronians 30 

„  Congregationalists 75 

„  Scotch  Episcopalians 101 

„  English  Episcopalians 9 

„  Baptists 40 

Ministers  of  free  churches 1422 

The  number  of  the  congregations  of  the  Free  Church 
has  now  grown  to  about  847,^  and  the  number  of  their 
regular  ministers  is  above  700.  To  the  foregoing  sum- 
mary we  must,  therefore,  add  seventy-five  Free  Church 
ministers,  and  the  total  number  of  the  ministers  of  free 
churches  in  Scotland  appears  to  be  1497  :  majority  of  the 
ministers  of  free  churches  over  the  ministers  of  the  Estab- 
ment  is  therefore  392.      In  Scotland,  therefore,  individual 

^  M'Culloch,  vol.  ii.  p.  430. 

^  Missionary  Record  of  the  Free  Church,  June,  1848. 


260        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

zeal  maintains  a  number  of  ministers  one-third  greater  than 
the  number  maintained  by  the  State.  The  population  is 
2,628,957,  and  if  we  estimate  the  members  and  the  ad- 
herents of  the  free  churches  to  be  one-half  the  population, 
i.  e.  1,314,478,  then  individual  zeal  in  Scotland  maintains 
1497  or  1500  ministers  for  1,314,478  of  the  population, 
which  is  one  minister  for  every  876  hearers. 

In  the  United  States  the  results  of  individual  zeal  are 
not  less  extensive.  The  population  of  the  United  States  in 
1840  was  17,062,666,^  and  the  number  of  ministers  of 
five  evangelical  denominations  is  represented  in  the  follow- 
ing table,  which  is  extracted  from  an  important  volume 
which  Mr.  Baird  has  published  on  the  state  of  religion  in 
the  United  States. ^ 


The  Number  of  Ministers  of  Five  Evangelical  Denominations 
in  the  United  States. 


Denominations. 

Churches. 

Ministers. 

Communicants. 

Hearers. 

Episcopalians 

Presbyterians    and  ) 
Congregationalists  ) 

1,164 

8,111 

8,561 
12,445'^ 

1,033 

5,411 

4,375 
4,112^ 

105,745 

751,803 

622,478 
935,418 

712,000 

4,350,000 

3,423,000 
5,400,000 

Methodists 

Totals 

30,281 

14,931 

2,415,444 

13,885,000 

The  American  Almanac  for  1846  confirms  the  state- 
ments of  Mr,  Baird,  making  the  churches  of  the  evangeli- 
cal denominations  to  be  29,490,  the  ministers  15,231,  and 

^  American  Facts,  by  G.  P.  Putnam,  1845,  p.  27. 

^  Baird's  Religion  in  United  States,  chap.  16,  p.  600. 

^  Mr.  Baird  makes  them  25,134,  but  as  many  of  them  are  very 
small,  I  have  stated  them  at  the  number  of  the  local  preachers. 

^  "The  total  number  of  Methodist  preachers  is  10,505;  but  as 
this  number  includes  the  local  preachers,  I  have  set  the  number  of 
ministers  at  the  number  of  traveling  pi-eachers  who  are  wholly  de- 
voted to  the  ministry.". — Baird,  p.  601. 


UPON  THE  NUMBER  OF  MINISTERS.  251 

the  communicants  to  be  2,651,003.^  We  may  therefore 
safely  state  the  number  of  mmisters  to  be  15,000  for  a 
population  of  17,000,000.  The  people  of  the  United 
States  are  placed  under  great  disadvantages  with  reference 
to  the  maintenance  of  ministers,  first,  because  there  is 
annually  a  large  influx  of  European  emigrants,  who  bring 
with  them  the  irreligion  and  apathy  into  which  they  have 
been  plunged  by  the  Establishments  of  Europe  ;  and  sec- 
ondly, because  the  population,  like  the  population  of  our 
own  colonies,  is  spread  over  a  wide  surface,  in  which  cir- 
cumstances it  is  much  more  difficult  to  maintain  pastors. 
Yet,  notwithstanding  these  obstacles,  the  Christians  of  the 
United  States  maintain  15,000  ministers  for  17,000,000 
persons,  i.  e.  one  minister  to  every  1133  of  the  population, 
a  jnumber  very  nearly  adequate  to  the  whole  supply  of  their 
wants.  Nearly  1 4 , 0  0  0 , 0  0  0  out  of  1 7 , 0  0  0 , 0  0  0  are  actually 
listening  to  the  Gospel  from  15,000  faithful  ministers,  and 
maintain  for  themselves  pastors  in  the  ratio  o^  one  pastor 
for  925  hearers. 

From  these  figures  it  appears,  that  under  all  the  dis- 
advantages which  the  Establishments  have  thrown  in  their 
way,  the  evangehcal  churches  oi  England  have  supplied 
7900  ministers  for  16,000,000,  z.  c.  one  minister  to  every 
2025  ;  the  evangehcal  free  churches  of  Scotland  supply 
one  minister  to  every  1752  of  the  whole  population  ;  while 
in  the  United  States,  where  no  such  obstructions  exist,  the 
evangelical  churches  supply  one  minister  to  every  1133  of 
the  whole  populatwn- 

These  figure^  enable  us  further  to  judge  how  large  a 
supply  of  ministers  may  be  expected  to  be  furnished  by 
individual  zeal  when  the  advancement  of  sound  views  shall 
have  dissolved  the  connection  of  the  Anglican  Churches 
with  the  State.  Since  the  Wesleyan  body  in  England 
maintain  one  minister  for  every  336  members;  since  the 
free  evangehcal  churches  of  England  maintain  one  minister 
to  every  506  hearers;   since  the  free  evangehcal  churches 

1  American  Almanac  for  1846,  p.  191.  I  have  made  the  same 
alterations  as  before  in  the  number  of  the  Methodist  congregations 
and  ministers. 


252        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

of  Scotland  maintain  one  minister  to  each  876  hearers  ; 
and  since  the  evangehcal  churches  of  the  United  States 
maintain  one  minister  to  each  925  hearers,  we  may  infer 
that  every  1000  hearers  throughout  England  and  Wales 
will  maintain  their  minister  when  the  Anglican  Churches 
shall.be  also  free. 

Those  who  think  this  to  be  a  vain  expectation,  from  the 
present  apathy  of  the  masses  in  the  Anglican  Churches, 
should  recollect  that  new  circumstances  would  create  in 
them  new  principles.  We  may  no  more  argue  from  what 
Anglican  Churches  do  under  the  paralyzing  chain  of  the 
State  to  what  they  would  do  when  free,  than  we  could 
calculate  the  present  efforts  of  the  Scotch  Free  Church 
from  the  comparative  indifference  of  its  members  before  the 
disruption.  Anglicans  are  not  necessarily  inferior  in  liber- 
ality to  all  other  denominations  ;  and  that  which  is  done 
by  the  free  churches  of  England,  Scotland,  and  the  United 
States,  could  be  done  by  the  Anglican  churches  likewise  if 
they  were  free. 

Large  numbers,  it  is  true,  often  claimed  by  writers  of 
the  Establishment  when  they  make  a  boastful  comparison 
of  its  numbers  with  those  of  dissenters,  belong  in  reality  to 
no  denomination.  Perhaps  one-fourth  of  the  whole  popu- 
lation must  be  assigned  to  tbis  irreligious  class.  Of  course 
these  would  make  no  sacrifice  to  support  ministers.  Effect- 
ive Anglicans  may,  therefore,  be  reduced  to  8,000,000. 
Of  these  we  may  safely  assert,  from  five  large  experience  of 
other  bodies,  that  they  would  maintain  one  minister  for 
every  1000.  The  supply  of  ministers,  therefore,  after  the 
dissolution  of  the  union,  would  stand  thus  : — 

Pastors  for  8,000,000  Anglicans 8000 

Pastors  for  4,000,000  Dissenters 7900 

City  Missionaries 100 

Total  pastors  and  teachers  for  16,000,000  16,000 

There  would,  in  other  words,  be  one  pastor  to  every  1000 
of  the  population  ;  and  though  this  number  would  be  less 
than  the  actual  number  now  supplied  by  the  Establishment 


UPON  THE   DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS.       253 

and  the  free  churches  together,  yet  the  increased  efficiency 
of  pastors  chosen  and  maintained  by  the  churches,  and  tho 
better  distribution  through  the  country,  would  render  the 
whole  supply  of  religious  instructors  to  the  community  fax 
more  effective  than  it  is  at  present. 

Section  II. — Influence  of  the  TJnio?i  tipon  the  Distribu- 
tion of  Ministers. 

As  the  union  introduces  unfit  men  into  the  ministry,  and 
maintains  an  inadequate  number  of  ministers,  so  it  distrib- 
utes its  ministers  with  a  wasteful  inattention  to  the  wants  of 
the  population.  Thirteen  thousand  working  clergy,  if  select- 
ed for  their  piety  and  well  placed,  might,  with  the  aid  of 
the  ministers  of  other  denominations,  nearly  meet  the  wants 
of  the  country  :  but  under  the  reign  of  patronage  they  are 
so  distributed  as  to  leave  millions  of  the  people  uninstructed. 

Let  us  first  examine  the  disproportionate  distribution  of 
ministers  in  many  of  the  dioceses.— (iSce  Tables,  pp.  354, 
355.) 

1.  In  four  dioceses,  containing  6,148,662  souls,  there 
are  2644  pastors  ;  and  in  nineteen  other  dioceses,  contain- 
ing 5,753,559  souls,  there  are  6718  pastors.  The  State, 
therefore,  provides  twice  the  number  of  pastors  for  the 
smaller  population  :  in  the  nineteen  dioceses,  it  provides 
one  pastor  to  every  856  of  the  population,  and  in  the  four 
dioceses  one  pastor  for  every  2325  of  the  population. 

2.  In  the  four  populous  dioceses  there  are  6,148,662 
souls,  with  2644  pastors,  and  in  the  four  agricultural  dio- 
ceses there  are  1,924,645  souls,  with  2862  pastors.  In 
the  first  four  dioceses  the  population  is  three  times  greater 
than  it  is  in  the  last  four,  and  yet  the  number  of  pastors  in 
the  first  four  is  less  than  the  number  in  the  second  four. 
In  the  first  four  there  is  one  pastor  to  each  2325  souls, 
and  in  the  second  four  there  is  one  pastor  to  each  672  souls. 
Either,  therefore,  the  State  has  created  a  lavish  and  useless 
multiplication  of  pastors  in  the  agricultural  dioceses,  or  it 
has  mischievously  neglected  the  supply  of  pastors  in  the 
populous  dioceses. 


254:       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

Table  of  the  Population  and  of  the  Benefices  in  Four  populous 
Districts.^ 


Dioceses. 

Benefices. 

Population. 

Chester 

616 
623 

611 
828 

1,883,958 
1,045,481 
1,722,685 
1,496,538 

Lichfield 

London 

York   

Totals 

2,644 

6,148,662 

Table  of  the   Population  and  of  the  Benefices  in  Nineteen 
Dioceses.^ 


Dioceses. 

Benefices. 

Population. 

St.  Asaph 

160 
131 

440 
255 
343 
128 
266 
451 
156 
283 
326 
194 
1,273 
1,076 
208 
305 
93 
408 
222 

191,156 
163,702 
403,795 
232,026 
405,272 
135,002 
254,460 
358.451 
133,722 
315,512 
206,327 
181,244 
899,468 
690,138 
140,700 
194,339 
191,875 
384,683 
271,687 

Ban<Tor 

Bath  and  Wells 

Bristol 

Canterbury       

Carlisle 

Chichester 

St.  David's 

Ely 

Hereford 

Llandaff 

Oxford             

Peterborouo'h 

Salisbury 

Worcester 

Totals            

6,718 

5,753,559 

1  M'Culloch,  vol.  ii.  p.  396.     The  erection  of  the  two  sees  of  Ripon  and  Man* 
Chester  makes  no  difference  in  the  number  of  the  working  clergy. 

2  M'Culloch,  vol.  ii.  p.  396. 


UPON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS. 


255 


Table    of  the   Pojjulation   and   of  the   Benefices   in   Four 
Agricultural  Dioceses.^ 


Dioceses. 

Benefices. 

Population. 

1,273 

1,076 

208 

305 

899,468 
690,138 
140,700 
194,339 

Oxford      

Totals      

2,862 

1,924,645 

Similar  results,  unhappily,  appear  from  a  comparison  of 
the  State  supply  of  pastors  in  different  counties. 

Table  of  the  Number  of  Clergymen  in  Twenty  Counties.'^ 


County. 


Bedford 

Berkshire   

Buckingham  . .  . 
Cambridge  .  . .  . 

Devon 

Dorset 

Hereford 

Hertford   

Huntingdon .  . .  . 

Leicester 

Lincoln 

Norfolk 

Oxford 

Rutland 

Somerset 

Suffolk 

Sussex 

Westmoreland 

Wiltshire 

Worcestershire 


Totals 


Clergy. 


Population. 


127 

95,483 

160 

145,389 

214 

146,529 

174 

143,955 

490 

494,478 

263 

159,252 

227 

111,211 

131 

143,341 

97 

53,192 

254 

197,003 

607 

317,465 

699 

390,054 

242 

152,126 

50 

19,385 

494 

404,200 

501 

296,317 

322 

272,340 

67 

55.041 

314 

240,156 

201 

211,565 

5,634 

4,048,482 

1  M'Culloch,  vol.  ii.  p. 


lb.  p.  415. 


256        INFLUExNCE  OF  THE  UxNION  UPON  THINGS. 


Table  of  the  Number  of  Clergymen  in  Three  iJopulous  Counties 
in  1831.1 


County. 

Clergy. 

Population. 

London  and  Middlesex 

246 
292 
760 

1,358,300 
1,336,854 
1,371,359 

Yorkshire 

Totals 

1,298 

4,066,513 

Table   of  the    Number  of  Clergymen  in    Three   Agricultural 
Counties. 


County. 

Clergy. 

Population. 

97 
699 
501 

53,192 
390,054 
296,317 

Norfolk 

Suffolk 

Totals 

1,297 

739,563 

From  a  comparison  of  the  first  table  with  the  second, 
we  find  that  the  State  has  appointed  5634  ministers  for 
4,048,482  of  its  subjects  residing  in  certain  parts  of  the 
kingdom,  and  1298  for  4,066,513  residing  in  other  parts 
of  the  kingdom.  To  the  one  body  it  assigns  one  pastor  for 
every  718  souls,  and  to  the  other  body  it  assigns  one 
minister  for  every  3132  ;  in  other  words,  it  supports  four 
times  as  m.any  pastors  for  the  one  body  as  for  the  other. 

From  a  comparison  of  the  second  table  with  the  third,  we 
learn  that  the  State  has  provided  1298  ministers  for 
4,066,513  souls  in  three  counties,  and  1297  ministers  for 
739,563  souls  in  three  other  counties.  The  one  popula- 
tion being  five  times  greater  than  the  other,  the  State  has 
furnished  each  with  the  same  number  of  ministers.  If, 
therefore,  it  has  provided  a  sufficient  number  for  the  greater 
^  M-Culloch,  vol.  ii.  p.  415. 


UPON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS.  257 

population,  it  has  lavished  four  times  too  many  on  the 
smaller  ;  if  it  has  barely  supplied  the  wants  of  the  smaller, 
it  has  left  the  larger  destitute  of  four-fifths  of  the  number 
required. 

But  these  figures  do  not  properly  represent  the  unequal 
distribution  of  ministers  throughout  the  country,  because 
that  inequality,  arising  chiefly  from  the  disregard  of  the 
toivn  population  by  the  State,  can  not  be  disclosed  by  the 
examination  of  any  large  portions  of  country  which  embrace 
both  civic  and  agricultural  districts  ;  it  is  understood  better 
by  a  comparison  of  a  city  with  a  district  exclusively  agri- 
cultural— a  comparison,  for  instance,  of  London  with  Rut- 
landshire. 

The  v/hole  number  of  parishes  in  the  metropolis,  if  we 
comprehend  all  the  parishes  within  eight  miles  of  St.  Paul's, 
is  190,^  and  this  represents  the  whole  number  of  ministers 
appointed  by  the  State  for  the  metropolis;  being' 190  for 
2,022,384,  or  one  minister  to  each  11,069  of  the  popula- 
tion. But  98  of  these  parishes  lie  within  the  city,  and 
confine  their  clerical  exertions  to  54,626  souls,  the  popula- 
tion of  that  part  of  the  metropolis.  There  remain  92 
parishes,  which  contain  the  remaining  population  of  the 
metropolis,  amounting  to  2,022,384  —  54,626  =  1,967,758 
souls.  The  whole  supply,  therefore,  which  the  State  has 
secured  for  the  metropolis,  exclusive  of  the  city,  is  92, 
which  is  one  minister  to  each  21,388.  As,  however,  all 
the  metropolitan  incumbents,  exclusive  of  those  in  the  city, 
must  have  curates,  who,  though  not  appointed  by  the 
State,  are  yet  generally  maintained  by  the  official  incomes 
of  the  incumbents,  we  must  add  these  curates  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  pastors  maintained  by  the  State.  Thus  the 
State  maintains  184  ministers  for  1,967,758,  which  is 
one  minister  to  each  10,694  of  the  population. 

In  Rutland,  in  1831,  there  were  19,385  persons  dis- 
tributed among  54  parishes,  for  which  the  State  has 
provided  50  ministers,^  which  is  one  minister  for  each 
387   persons.      And  as   27X387  =  10,449,   which  is  less 

^  London  City  Mission  Magazine,  Jan.  1843,  p.  4. 
2  M'Culloch,  vol.  ii.  p.  415. 


258        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

than  10,694,  the  number  assigned  by  the  State  to  each 
city  pastor,  the  State  maintains  twenty-seven  times  as  many 
ministers  for  the  agriculturists  of  Rutland  as  for  the  citizens 
of  London.  To  10,449  country  laborers  the  State  allots 
twenty-seven  pastors,  and  to  10,449  Londoners  one  pastor. 
To  one  city  minister  the  State  allots  twenty-seven  times 
as  much  labor  as  to  one  country  minister.  Either,  then, 
the  union  has  been  mischievously  lavish  in  its  regard  to 
country  laborers,  or  has  mischievously  neglected  the  citizens 
of  the  metropolis. 

Unhappily,  this  comparison  of  London  with  Rutland- 
shire only  affords  a  specimen  of  the  neglect  of  the  State 
toward  many  of  the  cities  and  great  towns  of  England. 
The  Pastoral  Aid  Society  now  assists  301  incumbents, 
who  have  under  their  care  an  aggregate  population  of 
2,077,703  souls,  or  an  average  of  6902.^  At  the  same 
time  there  are  in  England  and  Wales  4774  parishes, 
which  have  a  population  varying  from  100  to  300.^ 
Putting  the  population  of  each  of  these  parishes  at  300, 
we  have  4774  ministers  for  1,432,200,  while  there  are  301 
ministers  for  2,077,703  souls.  In  round  numbers,  there 
are  4774  ministers  to  1,500,000  persons,  and  300  minis- 
ters to  2,000,000  persons.  In  other  words,  the  State  has 
assigned  one  minister  to  each  300  peasants,  and  one  min- 
ister to  each  6900  citizens  ;  and  since  23  X  300  =  6900, 
the  State  has  given  to  each  city  minister  a  charge  twenty- 
three  times  greater  than  that  assigned  to  each  country 
minister.  Deducting  one-fifth  from  the  civic  numbers,  we 
find  that  1,500,000  country  laborers  receive  from  the  State 
4774  ministers,  and  1,500,000  citizens  receive  240.  The 
1,500,000  laborers  have  received  nineteen  times  as  many 
pastors  as  the  1,500,000  citizens;  either,  therefore,  the 
laborers  have  far  too  many  State  pastors,  or  the  citizens 
have  far  too  few. 

Still  greater  inequalities  in  the  State  distribution  of  pas- 

^  Report,  1848.  The  society  have  now  before  them  fifty-six 
further  apphcations  from  incumbents,  having  an  average  population 
of  5688  under  their  charge. 

"^  Horsman,  p.  20. 


UPON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS.  259 

tors  appear  when  we  select  for  comparison  certain  civic 
parishes  with  certain  country  parishes. 

In  the  autumn  of  1846  there  were  seventeen  metropol- 
itan parishes,  in  which  the  supply  of  ministers  was  as  fol- 
lows : — 

Table  of  the  Clergy  of  Seventeen  Metropolitan  Parishes.'- 


Parish. 

Clergy. 

Population. 

St.  George's,  Southwark. .  . 

St.  George's,  East 

Poplar 

5 

4 
2 
2 
1 
2 
3 
2 
2 
2 
•1 
2 
1 
7 
2 
2 
3 

50,000 
42,000 
21,000 
22,000 
10,000 
21,000 
35.000 
24,000 
19,000 
30,000 
8,500 
15,000 
14,000 
60,000 
15,000 
17,000 
25,000 

Spitalfields     

Shoreditchj  St.  Leonard  .  . . 

Hoxton 

Haggerstone  .  . 

Clerkenwell,  St^.  James 

St.  John 

St.  Luke,  Old  Street 

St.  Barnabas 

Newinffton,  Surrey 

Christ  Church     

Stepney,  St.  Dunstan's 

Totals     

43 

428,000 

Thus,  for  428,000  citizens,  the  Estahhshment  furnishes 
forty-three  ministers,  i.e.  one  for  each  9953  souls.  But 
out  of  11,077  Anglican  parishes  there  are  1907  which 
have  each  less  than  one  hundred  souls  in  them.  Thus  the 
Establishment  has  provided  forty-three  ministers  for  428,000 
of  the  civic  population,  and  1907  ministers  for  190,700  of 
the  village  population.  In  the  metropolis  it  allots  one  min- 
ister to  9953  souls,  in  the  country  one  minister  to  one  hun- 
dred souls  ;  and  as  9  9  X  1 0  0  =  9  9  0  0 ,  the  State  allots  ninety- 

1  Horsman,  p.  21.  This  list  includes  all  the  clergy  of  these  par- 
ishes, and  not  merely  those  provided  by  the  State. 


260       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

nine  times  as  many  persons  to  the  city  pastor  as  it  does 
to  the  country  pastor.  In  1907  country  parishes  9900 
persons  have  ninety-nine  pastors,  and  in  seventeen  metro- 
poUtan  parishes  9900  persons  have  only  one  pastor.  In 
the  first  case  there  is  enormous  waste  of  public  instructors, 
in  the  second  an  enormous  neglect. 

It  is  further  melancholy  to  consider  to  what  an  extent 
this  neglect  on  the  one  hand,  and  this  waste  on  the  other, 
are  carried.  There  being,  on  the  whole,  11,077  parishes, 
containing  16,000,000  persons,  1907  of  these  have  each 
less  than  100  inhabitants,  and  therefore  contain  less  than 
190,700  inhabitants,  and  4774  of  them  contain  each  less 
than  300  inhabitants,  and  therefore  together  they  contain 
less  than  1,432, 200. ^  Of  11,077  parishes,  6681,  together, 
contain  less  than  1,622,900  persons.  Deducting  these 
from  the  higher  figures,  we  find  that  there  remain  4396 
parishes,  containing  14,377,100.  As  there  are  12,&23 
working  clergy,  and  the  State  has  assigned  6681  of  these 
to  parishes  with  less  than  300  inhabitants,  there  remain 
6242  ministers  for  the  remaining  4396  parishes.  Thus, 
in  6681  parishes  the  State  has  provided  one  pastor  for  less 
than  300  souls,  and  in  4396  parishes  it  has  provided  one 
pastor  to  2300  souls;  and  as  7x300  =  2100,  the  State 
has  provided  seven  times  as  many  pastors  for  its  subjects 
in  one  part  of  the  country  as  it  has  for  those  in  another. 
In  4396  parishes,  2300  persons  have  one  pastor,  and  in 
6681  parishes  2300  persons  have  seven  pastors.  More 
than  one  lialf  the  number  of  the  workhig  ministers  are 
expended  by  the  State  upon  one-eighth  of  the  population, 
and  seven-eighths  are  left  with  a  provision  not  equal  to 
that  ivhich  is  afforded  to  one-eighth.  Fourteen  millions 
are  starved,  and  two  millions  are  surfeited. 

Individual  zeal,  on  the  other  hand,  is  as  thrifty  as  the 
State  is  prodigal — as  wise  as  the  State  is  thoughtless. 
Whether  we  regard  the  counties  of  England,  the  manufac- 
turing districts,  or  the  metropolis,  we  find  that  while  the 
State  disregards  the  proportions  of  the  population,  individ- 
ual zeal  makes  them  the  measure  of  its  supply. 
^  Horsman,  p.  20. 


UPON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS. 


261 


First,  let  us  compare  the  number  of  Anglican  ministers 
with  the  number  of  the  free  church  ministers  in  several 
counties. 


Table  of  the  Number  of  Clergymen  and  of  Dissenting  Ministers 
in  Three  Agricultural  Counties,  in  1831.^ 


County. 

Population. 

Clergj-. 

Inde- 
penU- 
ents. 

Baptists. 

Metlio 
(lists. 

Three 
Denomina- 
tions. 

All 
ters. 

Norfolk 

Rutland 

Suffolk 

Totals  .  . . 

390,054 

19,385 

296,317 

699 

50 

501 

34 

4 

35 

40 

2 

39 

99 

7 

41 

173 

13 

115 

206 

14 

132 

705,756 

1250 

73 

81 

147 

301 

352 

Table  of  the  Number  of  Clergymen  and  of  Dissenting  Ministers 
in  Three  jjopulous  Counties  in  1831." 


County. 

Popul.ition. 

Clergy. 

ll 

1 

1 

jl 

Three 
Denomina- 
tions. 

Dissenters. 

London  and  ) 

Middlesex  j 

Lancashire  . . 

Yorkshire  . . . 

Totals  . .  . 

1,358,300 

1,336,854 
1,371,359 

246 

292 
760 

103 

100 
170 

65 

40 
63 

88 

243 
680 

256 

383 
913 

306 

581 
1047 

4,066,513 

1298 

373 

168 

1011 

1552 

1934 

The  population  in  three  agricultural  counties  is  705,756, 
while  that  in  three  manufacturing  and  civic  counties  is 
4,066,513,  which  is  five  times  greater  than  the  former. 
The  Anglican  pastors  provided  for  the  former  are  1250,  for 
the  latter  1298,  which  is  nearly  the  same.  The  State 
provides  one  pastor  for  each  564  of  the  rural  population, 
and  one  for  each  3132  of  the  manufacturing;  and  as 
5x564  =  2820,  it  provides  2820   of  the  manufacturers 


M'Cullochj  vol.  ii.  p.  415. 


lb. 


262        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

and  citizens  with  one  pastor,  and  2820  of  tlie  peasants 
witli  five  pastors. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  pastors  provided  by  free  evan- 
gelical churches  for  705,756  persons  in  the  three  agricul- 
tural counties  amount  to  301,  which  afibrds  one  pastor  to 
each  2344  of  the  population  ;  and  the  ministers  provided 
by  them  for  4,066,513  persons  in  the  three  populous  coun- 
ties is  1552,  which  affords  one  minister  to  each  2620. 
The  proportion  to  numbers  is  in  each  case  the  same.  As 
the  population  in  the  manufacturing  counties  is  five  times 
greater  than  that  in  the  agricultural  counties,  so  the  num- 
ber of  free-church  pastors  in  the  former  counties  is  five 
times  greater  than  that  in  the  latter  counties.  The  distri- 
bution of  ministers  by  the  State  in  these  counties  is  waste- 
ful and  inconsiderate  ;  their  distribution  by  individual  zeal 
is  economical  and  wise.  For  the  agricultural  population, 
which  is  five  times  smaller  than  the  manufacturing,  the 
free  churches  have  furnished  a  number  of  ministers  four 
times  less  than  that  furnished  by  the  State  ;  but  for  the 
civic  and  manufacturing  population,  which  is  five  times 
greater  than  the  agricultural,  the  free  churches  have  fur- 
nished a  number  which  surpasses  the  number  of  the  State 
pastors  by  254.  For  the  three  agricultural  counties  the 
free  evangelical  churches  have  done  less,  because  these  are 
the  least  important ;  but  for  the  three  most  populous  coun- 
ties, which  are  the  most  important,  these  free  churches 
have  furnished  254  more  ministers  than  the  Establishment. 

Let  us  next  compare  the  provision  of  ministers  which 
has  been  made  by  the  State,  with  that  which  has  been 
furnished  by  individual  zeal  in  the  manufacturing  districts 
of  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire.  On  this  point  I  can  not  do 
better  than  avail  myself  of  the  valuable  labors  of  Mr. 
Baines,  of  Leeds,  some  of  the  results  of  whose  extended 
and  accurate  investigations  are  contained  in  the  following 
Table,  which  I  have  extracted  from  his  important  pam- 
phlet, entitled  "  The  Social,  Educational,  and  Religious 
State  of  the  Marmfacturing  Districts." 


f 

W 

^ 

o 

cc 

K 

M 

W 

> 

Si 

o 

l> 

en 

3 

o 

•T3 

2 

w 

o 

1 

o' 

s. 

1 

o^ 

is' 

S" 

I 

S 

o 

td 

o 

ti 

M* 

2. 

►:5 

UQ 

P' 

u 

CTQ 

D' 

; 

S' 

5- 

•2- 

^ 

"3 

to 

lO 

JO 

1 

to 

05 

05 

00 

»-J 

o 

JO 

rf^ 

w 

to 

? 

00 

4^ 

to 

CO 

o> 

^ 

00 

^ 

10 

JO 

CO 

- 

CO 

JO 

*. 

Churches. 

o 

^ 

^ 

CO 

to 

to 

JO 

.t. 

>£• 

en 

CI 

en 

00 

o 

o 

o 

o 

*"" 

'^ 

Churches. 

01 

10 

JO 

'"' 

^ 

'"' 

'"' 

5" 

w 

M 

to 

?o 

05 

JO 

on 

to 

o 

It- 

JO 

=. 

^ 

o 

CO 

Cl 

en 

.3 

CT 

10 

o 

o 

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SI 

2. 

3 

0 

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Churches. 

OS 

JO 

'-' 

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i 

3 

tD 

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CO 

tr  :^ 

? 

10 

CO 

tn 

en 

CO 

>b. 

i;^ 

o 

Ol 

o 

en 

<y. 

OI 

o 

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c 

C3 

o 

o 

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^ 

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>c. 

Churches. 

o 

c 

to 

CO 

to 

o 

o 

H 

^S 

^ 

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CO 

on 

a 

00 

>£>. 

to 

00 

10 

Ol 

k^ 

05 

tb~ 

to 

o 

CO 

en 

o 

00 

on 

00 

to 

o 

o 

on 

^ 

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CO 

v\ 

JO 

- 

CO 

>^ 

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- 

Chapels. 

3 

^ 

^ 

JO 

00 

CO 

J-" 

Ci 

JO 

o 

Vj 

CO 

Sittings. 

i 

JO 

o 

CO 

Ol 

"= 

o 

CO 

o 

o 

^ 

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JO 

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on 

^ 

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Chapels. 

13 

00 

CO 

00 

on 

CO 

o 

on 

1' 

,:| 

(S 

^ 

^ 

>£>. 

^ 

00 

JO 

JO 

C) 

CO 
00 

o 

o 

^ 

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V' 

Eittings. 

s 

oo 

CO 

to 

o 

en 

o 

O 

on 

JO 

? 

LI 

JO 

JO 

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t35 

^ 

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Chapels. 

GO 

^ 

00 

o 

o 

-i 

t 

CO 

JO 

^ 

en 

C< 

^ 

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10 

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CO 

00 

►u 

on 

r 

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>;^ 

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en 

to 

on 

*. 

o 

00 

o 

"-^ 

on 

CO 

1  - 

^ 

ll^ 

JO 

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CO 

Chapels. 

H 

00 

1    ^ 

(O 

>ti. 

^ 

g:C§. 

2 

tij 

p 

CO 

to 

-i 

CO 

H- 

p> 

Sittings. 

?'C  c- 

w 

CO 

00 

g'^- 

<J> 

CO 

o 

o 

Q 


I 


O    K-f 

siig 

"d 

"  (^  O^-' 

i^l'S 

fa 

o 

odIo 

ia 

ci  o 

^ 

W   00 

•>j 

00  00 

a 

] 

^ 

►-. 

Ol 

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-J  o 

Sittings. 

.8 

Ji 

*-  00 

« 

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g':;, 

iCliurches 

1" 

o 

CO  tc 

"Lt"cc 

Sittings. 

1 

? 

S 

I-' 

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-J 

.-! 

CO 

Churches 

»o 

=- 

■- 

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^ 

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Sittings. 

i- 

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o; 

K-J     JO 

Xj 

5g 

Churche.s. 

? 

CO 

v-  JO 

o 

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Sittings 

- 

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'     1 

JC 

^ 

— 

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Chapels. 

^ 

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"to  "^     Sittings. 

8 

o 

CO 

CO   OT 

^ 

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s- 

Chapels. 

OT 

S 

*. 

10  (0 

s 

% 

•— ■    J:- 

t) 

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Sittings. 

s 

CO 

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1 

i 

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0>    CT 

Chapels. 

H 

tn 

»o  CO 

° 

00  o 

O) 

."i^ 

Sittin"^. 

? 

«       CJI  -x  1 

•^ 

1 

00 

.to.   CO 

00 

as 

Chapela. 

sll 

to 

^ 

•U  00 

lit 

C-.    CT 

Sittings. 

, 

o 

sf 


C      ^  -    CD    c 


CT    Ji.    Ci    C5 

CO  o  aj  io 

*.  C  CT  c 


Sittings. 


to  >*>  CO  H-'   Churches 


O   O  05  >*^ 
O  C  CT  o 

000c 


Sittings. 


to  CT  -J  CO    Churches. 


1—    CT    O    O 
CT   <!   10    t-' 

o  o  to  05 


Oi  CO  CO  -sO 
00  -J  CO  CO 
*»  O  ^  05 


Sittings 


2-     - 


g^^     Chapels 


j^  ^  to     Sittings. 

CO  01  kt^ 

CT    !0   00 


jO  p>  ^  pi\ 

CO  r^  00  "c     Sittings. 

«5  CT  o  ife. 

y:  o  'X!  OD 


3 


00  O:  »— 
I  --■'  =  '-  '^ 


Chapels 


Sittings. 


£5?? 


"'<  o 


UPON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS.         265 

The  first  thing  which  strikes  us  when  we  look  at  the 
religious  condition  of  the  manufacturing  districts  is  the 
great  necessity  which  exists  for  sustained  exertion  to  supply 
their  religious  and  educational  wants.  The  increase  of 
population  has  been  as  follows  : — 

Increase  of  the  Population  in  the  Cotton  and  Woollen  Districts 
since  1800. 


District. 

Population, 
180]. 

Population, 
1841. 

Increase. 

Increase  per 
Cent. 

Lancashire  . . 
Yorkshire  . . . 

Totals... 

493,834 
414,000 

1,224,708 
844,563 

730,874 
430,563 

148 
104 

907,834 

2,069,271 

1,161,437 

127 

Since,  then,  the  population  of  these  districts  doubles 
itself  in  less  than  forty  years,  it  is  necessary  that  the  pro- 
vision of  the  ministers  of  religion  should  likewise  be  doubled 
in  forty  years. 

But  this  the  union  has  not  been  able  to  accomplish.  In 
the  year  1801,  there  were  170  churches  in  the  EstabHsh- 
ment  for  907,834  souls  in  these  districts;  and,  assuming 
that  these  churches  were  furnished  hy  the  union,  that  the 
union  allotted  one  minister  to  each  church,  and  that  one 
minister  can  take  the  spiritual  charge  of  1000  souls,  then 
the  union  provided  for  170,000  persons  in  these  districts, 
leaving  737,834  unprovided  with  ministers. 

To  be  efficient,  then,  in  its  assumed  episcopate,  the  State 
ought  to  have  provided  for  these  districts,  since  that  time, 
737  more  ministers  who  were  then  needed;  and  1161 
other  ministers  were  required  for  1,161,437,  who  have 
since  been  added  to  that  population.  In  all,  1898  minis- 
ters were  required  to  be  added  by  the  State  to  make  the 
Estabhshment  effectual  as  a  national  provision  for  the 
whole  population  of  those  districts.  Instead,  however,  of 
furnishing  1898  ministers,  the  State  has,  from  that  day 
to  this,  furnished  scarcely  any.      Sir  Robert  Peel's  Act  has 

M 


266        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

added  a  few  ministers  recently — a  wise  and  salutary  meas- 
ure, but  of  very  limited  power.  And  this  is  nearly  all  that 
the  State  has  done.  Parliamentary  churches,  indeed,  have 
been  raised  to  the  number  of  54,  containing  66,511  sittings  ; 
but  the  funds  provided  for  these  have  been  supplied  chiefly 
by  individual  zeal,  so  that  they  can  not  fairly  be  ascribed 
to  the  State,  which  merely  aided  in  their  erection.  How- 
ever, let  them  be  ascribed  to  the  union.  Then,  between 
1800  and  1841,  the  union,  which  ought  to  have  provided 
1898  additional  ministers  for  the  people,  has  added  54. 
It  ought  to  have  provided  for  1,899,271  ;  it  has  provided 
for  54,000,  leaving  1,845,271  without  ministers.  The 
manufacturing  districts  are  sometimes  represented  as  in  a 
pitiable  state  of  spiritual  destitution  :  they  would  certainly 
have  been  so  if  the  union  alone  had  supplied  their  wants. 
Out  of  a  population  of  907,834  in  1801,  the  State  then 
left  737,000  without  ministers,  and  since  that  time  has 
merely  aided  in  supplying  54  more,  while  the  population 
has  grown  to  2,069,271,  thus  leaving  1,845,000  without 
ministers. 

But  individual  zeal  has  done  what  the  union  left  undone. 
Fettered  by  many  restrictions,  Christians  within  the  Estab- 
lishment, though  under  the  bondage  of  the  State,  have 
added  in  the  last  forty  years  143  churches,  and  therefore 
143  ministers,  to  these  districts,  and  have  thus  diminished 
the  number  of  those  without  ministers  by  143,000.  The 
numbers  within  these  two  districts  provided  with  ministers 
by  the  Establishment  is  367,000  ;  and  the  number  left  by 
the  Establishment  unprovided  is  1,702,271.  All  that  the 
union  has  done,  aided  by  individual  zeal  within  the  Estab- 
lishment, is  to  furnish  ministers  to  less  than  one-fifth  of  the 
population,  leaving  four-fifths  without  pastors. 

But  the  zeal  of  the  evangelical  free  churches  has  done 
much  to  provide  themselves  with  pastors,  as  may  be  seen 
by  the  following  tables. — (See  Tables,  p.  267.) 

From  these  tables  it  appears  that  the  evangelical  free 
churches  of  the  cotton  and  woolen  districts  have  done  far 
more  than  the  Establishment  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  pop- 
ulation.     Assuming   that   there   is  one   minister  to   each 


UPON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS.         267 

Number  of  the  CJiapels  of  Three  Evangelical  Denominations  in 
the  Cotton  District  of  Lancashire. 


Denomination. 

Cburclies 

and 
Chai.ei8. 

Sittings. 

Sunday 
Scliools. 

Sunday 
Teachers. 

Scholars. 

Baptists 

68 

92 

116 

28,885 
57,496 
66,260 

59 
108 
124 

1,520 
3,556 
4,735 

10,868 
30,206 
33,602 

Independents  

Wesleyans 

Free  churches  

Establishment  .... 

Excess  of  Estab-  | 
lishment   ....   J 

Excess  of  free  | 
Churches j 

276 
200 

152,641 

221,248 

291 
199 

9,811 
7,167 

73,676 
75,930 

76 

68,607 

92 

2,644 

2,254 

Number    of  the    Chapels    and    Schools   of   Three    Evangelical 
Denominations  in  the  Woollen  District  of  Yorkshire. 


Denomination. 

Churches 

and 
Chapels. 

Sittings. 

.Sunday 
SchooJs. 

Sunday 

School 

Teacliers. 

Scholars. 

65 

91 

229 

30,394 

59,161 

117,123 

71 

108 
237 

3,473 

5,043 

13,410 

12,700 
23,714 
48,511 

Independents  

"Wesleyans 

Free  Churches  . .  . 
Establishment  .... 

Excess  of  the  Free  ^ 
churches S 

385 
167 

206,678 
136,736 

416 
180 

21,926 
5,801 

84,925 
40,499 

218 

69,942 

236 

16,125 

44,426 

Number  of  the  Chapels  and  Schools  of  Three  Evangelical 
Denominations  in  the  Cotton  and  Woollen  Districts  of  Lan- 
cashire and  Yorkshire. 


Denominations. 

Churches 

and 
Chapels. 

Sittings. 

Sunday 
Schools. 

Sunday 

School 

Teachers. 

Scholars. 

Free  churches 

Establishment 

Excess   of  Free  | 
churches ) 

661 
367 

359,313 
357,984 

707 
379 

31,737 
12,968 

158,601 
116,429 

294 

1335 

328 

18,769 

42,172 

268       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

church  and  chapel,  and  that  one  minister  can  take  the  pas- 
toral charge  of  1000  persons,  the  Establishment  maintains 
367  pastors:  the  evangelical  free  churches,  661.  If  the 
Establishment  can  instruct  367,000,  the  pastors  of  the 
free  churches  can  instruct  661,000  :  if  the  Establishment 
leaves  1,702,271  unprovided  with  ministers,  the  free 
churches  reduce  that  number  to  1,041,271.  The  free 
churches  sustain  294  more  ministers  than  the  Establish- 
ment, have  established  328  more  Sunday-schools,  instruct 
42,000  more  Sunday  scholars,  and  supply  18,000  more 
Sunday-school  teachers  ;  that  is,  their  ministers  and  schools 
are  nearly  twice  as  numerous  as  those  of  the  Establishment, 
and  their  Sunday-school  teachers  are  more  than  twice  as 
numerous.  To  these  must  be  added  twenty-four  congrega- 
tions of  Moravians,  Presbyterians,  and  some  smaller  evan- 
gelical denominations. 

If  by  any  sudden  catastrophe  all  the  ministers  and 
schools  of  the  Establishment  in  these  manufacturing  dis- 
tricts were  to  vanish,  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  evangelical 
instruction  now  given  to  the  people  would  remain. 

Some,  indeed,  think  that  the  dissolution  of  the  union 
will  materially  lessen  the  number  of  Anglican  ministers. 
But  these  districts  at  least  afford  no  ground  for  such  an 
opinion.  Why  should  not  the  Anglican  Churches  maintain 
their  ministers  as  freely  as  the  other  evangelical  churches 
do  ?  If  three  evangelical  denominations  now  maintain  661 
ministers,  why  should  not  the  great  Episcopal  denomination, 
when  free  from  the  shackles  of  the  State,  maintain  its 
367  ministers?  To  allege  that  Anglicans  are  too  worldly, 
indifferent,  and  selfish,  to  do  what  all  other  evangelical 
churches  do,  is  to  pronounce  sentence  of  condemnation  on 
the  union  which  has  made  them  so.  But  bad  as  the 
effects  of  the  union  have  been,  it  has  not  so  completely 
paralyzed  the  churches  beneath  its  influence.  There  is  no 
class  of  religionists  who  do  not  maintain  ministers  sufficient 
for  their  wants.  The  661  ministers  of  three  evangelical 
denominations  afford,  perhaps,  a  less  striking  proof  of  what 
individual  zeal  may  do,  when  free  from  the  shackles  of  the 
State,  than  the  number  of  ministers  maintained  by  other 


UPON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS.         269 

religious  bodies.  However  rationalistic  or  however  super- 
stitious, each  sect  will  have  its  ministers  ;  and  the  whole 
number  of  ministers  maintained  in  these  districts  by  the 
individual  zeal  of  nonconformists  is  not  661,  but  1185. 
— Dissenters  of  all  classes,  including  Catholics,  actually 
maintain  three  times  as  many  ministers  as  those  main- 
tained by  the  Establishment.  Aided  by  all  the  authority 
of  the  State,  with  a  State  provision,  and  embracing  all  the 
aristocracy  of  the  land,  the  Establishment  has  not  in  these 
districts  one  fourth  of  the  whole  number  of  the  ministers 
of  religion.  Dissenting  zeal  sustains  the  other  three-fourths. 
Who  can  suppose  that  on  the  arrival  of  the  dissolution  of 
the  union,  the  Anglican  Churches  will  discard  their  min- 
isters, and  will  shake  oiF  the  burden  of  maintaining  367 
ministers,  when  poorer  sects  in  the  same  neighborhood  are 
maintaining  1185? 

The  Establishment  has,  in  fact,  already  answered  this 
question.  A  large  part  of  its  ministers  are  already  main- 
tained by  their  people.  And  the  e'xcess  of  the  results  of 
individual  zeal  over  those  produced  by  the  union  is  far 
larger  than  the  excess  of  dissenting  ministers  over  those  of 
the  Establishment.  On  this  point  the  following  tables 
afford  satisfactory  evidence. 

Comparison  of  the  Number  of  Churches  provided  by  the  State 
for  the  Cotton  District  of  Lancashire,  with   the   Number  of 
Churches  and  Chapels  furnished  for  the  same  District  by  indi- 
vidual  zeal. 


Denomination. 

Churches 

and 
ChapeU. 

Sittings. 

Sunday 
Schools. 

Sunday 

School 

Teachers. 

Scholars. 

Free  churches  of  3  ? 

Denominations.  S 

Voluntary  Anglicans 

Total  Voluntaries  . 
State  Anglicans  . .  . 

Excess  of  Voluntar. 

276 
92 

152,641 
92,345 

291 
66 

9,811 
2,389 

73,676 
25,310 

368 
108 

244,986 
128,903 

357 
133 

12,200 

4,778 

98,986 
50,620 

260 

116,083 

224 

7,422 

48,366 

270 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 


Comparison  of  the  Number  of  Churches  ijrovided  by  the  State 
for  the  Woollen  District  of  Yorkshire,  with  the  number  of 
Churches  and  Chapels  provided  for  the  same  District  by  indi- 
vidual zeal. 


Denomination. 

Churches 

and 
Chapels. 

Sittings. 

Sunday 
Schools 

Sunday 
School 
Teachers. 

Scholars. 

Free  churches  of  3 
Denominations 
Voluntary  Anglicans 

Total  Voluntaries  . 
State  Anglicans  . .  . 

Excess  of  Voluntar. 

385 
51 

206,678 
32,426 

416 

45 

21,926 

1,450 

84,925 
10,124 

436 
116 

239,104 
104,310 

461 
135 

23,376 
4,351 

95,049 
30,375 

320 

134,734 

326 

19,025 

64,674 

Comparison  of  the  Churches  furnished  by  the  State  for  the 
Cotton  and  Woollen  Districts,  with  the  Churches  and  Chapels 
furnished  for  the  same  District  by  individual  zeal. 


Denomination. 

Churches 

and 

Chapels. 

Sittings. 

Sunday 
Schools. 

Sunday 

School 

Teachers. 

Scholars. 

Voluntaries  of  ) 
Lancashire .  . .  j 

Voluntaries  of  | 
Yorkshire j 

Total  Voluntaries.. 

State  Anglicans  ) 
in  Lancashire,  j 

State  Anglicans  ) 
in  Yorkshire . .  j 

Total    State  An-  ) 
glicans j 

Excess  of  Voluntar. 

368 
436 

244,986 
239,104 

357 
461 

12,200 
23,376 

98,986 
95,049 

804 

108 
116 

484,090 

104,310 
104,310 

818 

133 
135 

35,576 

4,778 
4,351 

194,035 

50,620 
30,375 

224 

233,213 

268 

9,129 

80,995 

580 

250,877 

550 

26,447 

113,040 

UrON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS.         271 

The  foregoing  tables  show  that  individual  zeal  in  four 
evangelical  denominations  has  already  furnished  to  the 
manufacturing  districts  three  times  more  ministers,  schools, 
and  school-teachers,  than  those  which  are  directly  or  in- 
directly supplied  by  the  State  ;  and  when  the  Anglican 
churches  shall  be  separated  from  the  State,  a  very  small 
part  of  the  evangelical  instruction  now  given  to  those 
districts  would  be  affected  by  it ;  and  if  all  the  ministers 
supported  by  the  State  were  to  vanish  with  the  State 
salaries,  three-fourths  of  the  ministers  of  those  four  great 
evangelical  denominations  would  still  remain  to  preach 
Christ  to  the  people,  of  which  143,  that  is  nearly  one-fifth, 
would  be  ministers  of  free  Anglican  Churches.  But  as 
143  Anglican  Churches  now  maintain  their  ministers 
without  aid  of  the  State,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
224  churches  whose  ministers  are  now  maintained  by  the 
State  would,  at  the  dissolution  of  the  union,  begin  to 
maintain  their  ministers  as  the  rest  do.  Already  the 
number  of  Anglican  ministers  maintained  by  the  people  is 
143,  and  the  total  number  of  ministers  maintained  by  the 
people  is  1328,  while  those  maintained  by  the  State  are 
only  224.  It  is  inconceivable  that  224  Anglican  congre- 
gations would  disgrace  themselves  by  remaining  without 
ministers  and  without  public  worship,  though  probably  the 
richest  congregations  in  the  manufacturing  districts,  while 
1328  congregations,  poorer  than  themselves,  maintain 
their  ministers  and  schools,  and  at  the  same  time  raise 
funds  to  send  missionaries  to  the  heathen.  It  is,  on  the 
contrary,  probable  that  as  soon  as  the  State's  shackles  are 
removed  a  larger  number  of  ministers  than  at  present, 
would  be  furnished  to  those  important  districts. 

Lastly,  I  have  assumed  throughout  that  the  fifty-four 
parliamentary  churches  and  their  ministers  have  been  fur- 
nished by  the  union  ;  but  this  assumption  is  erroneous.  In 
almost  all  cases  the  churches  have  been  built  chiefly  by 
voluntary  contributions,  and  the  ministers  are  chiefly  main- 
tained by  the  people,  so  that  these  fifty-four  churches  ought 
properly  to  be  added  to  the  number  furnished  by  individual 
zeal,  and  leave  only  170  out  of  the  1028  congregations  of 


272        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

four  evangelical  denominations — that  is,  less  than  one-fifth 
of  the  whole  number — to  be  at  all  affected  by  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  union. 

Lastly,  let  us  compare  the  number  of  ministers  which 
has  been  provided  by  the  State  with  that  which  has  been 
furnished  by  individual  zeal  for  the  metropolis. 

The  following  page  contains  a  table  made  after  minute 
inquiries  and  published  by  the  committee  of  the  London 
City  Mission  in  their  Magazine  for  January,  1843. 

This  table  enables  us  to  judge  respecting  the  neglect 
of  the  metropolis  by  the  State.  The  whole  population  is 
2,022,384  :  but  to  learn  the  proportion  of  the  State  minis- 
ters to  the  wants  of  the  population,  we  must  subtract  the 
population  of  "  the  City"  from  that  of  the  modern  metropo- 
lis. Within  the  City  there  is  a  large  supply  of  State  min- 
isters ;  but  as  they  confine  their  ministrations  entirely  to 
their  own  parishes,  and  their  influence  is  not  felt  beyond 
the  City  walls,  to  include  them  in  any  survey  of  the  supply 
of  public  instruction  for  the  modern  metropolis  would  only 
deceive.  Subtracting,  then,  all  the  City  items  from  the 
account,  the  churches  and  chapels  of  the  modern  metropolis 
stand  thus  :  The  population  is  1,967,758  ;  the  parishes  are 
92  ;  the  Anglican  churches  and  chapels,  290  ;  Anglican 
sittings,  318,944.  Dissenting  chapels  are  426  ;  dissenting 
sittings,  231,618  ;  of  which  88,716  belong  to  the  Inde- 
pendents, 8359  to  the  Presbyterians,  44,834  to  the  Bap- 
tists, and  54,328  to  the  Methodists.  The  sittings  of  the 
four  denominations  are  196,247,  and  those  of  all  denomin- 
ations, 550,462.  Assuming  that  every  parish-church  and 
every  district-church  has  two  ministers,  we  can  approximate 
to  the  number  of  Anglican  ministers.  The  parishes  being 
92  in  number,  and  the  proprietary  chapels  about  50,  the 
number  of  the  district  churches  is  290  —  142  =  148. 
Hence  the  Anglican  ministers  are  2x92-}-2x  148-f- 
50  =  530  :  and  the  Establishment  provides  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  530,000  out  of  1,967,758  ;  leaving  1,437,758,  2.  e. 
two-thirds  of  the  whole  population,  without  ministers. 
This  supply  of  Christian  ministers  can  not  be  ascribed 
Avholly  to  the  union.      For,  first,  we   must  subtract  the 


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274        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

ministers  of  proprietary  chapels  who  are  not  maintained 
by  the  State,  but  by  the  people  ;  and  next,  we  must  make 
large  deductions  from  the  State  supply  in  the  item  of  the 
district  churches.  These  churches  have,  for  the  most  part, 
been  raised  by  voluntary  contributions  ;  many  of  them  hav- 
ing very  small  endoMnnaents,  their  ministers  depend  mainly 
on  the  pew-rents  ;  and  their  curates  are  furnished  in  many 
instances  by  the  Pastoral  Aid  and  the  Curates'  Aid  So- 
ciety :  so  that,  at  least,  one-half  of  the  ministers  of  district 
churches  are  not  maintained  by  the  Stat^,  but  by  individual 
zeal.  When  these  subtractions  are  made,  the  number  of 
ministers  supported  by  the  State  appears  to  be  530  —  50 
—  148  =  332.  All  that  the  union  has  done  for  the  me- 
tropohs  is  to  furnish  332  ministers  for  1,967,758  souls. 
It  affords  ministers  to  332,000  persons,  and  leaves  1,635,- 
758  persons  ;  i.e.  more  than  four-fifths  without  ministers. 
It  ought  to  furnish  one  minister  for  every  1000  of  the  pop- 
ulation ;  it  does  furnish  one  for  each  5926. 

The  importance  of  the  metropolis  can  scarcely  be  exag- 
gerated. Within  it  2,022,384  persons  are  gathered  to- 
gether, whose  number  is  increasing  at  the  rate  of  30,000 
annually.  Its  population  already  equals  that  of  the  coun- 
ties of  Bedford,  Berks,  Bucks,  Cambridge,  Chester,  Corn- 
wall, Cumberland,  Dorset,  Durham,  and  Rutland.  It  is 
already  double  that  of  Wales,  and  approaches  that  of  Scot- 
land. Here  is  the  seat  of  empire  ;  here  the  queen's  court 
gathers  to  it  the  most  splendid  aristocracy  in  the  world. 
Here  assemble  the  members  of  the  imperial  Parliament, 
who  rule  the  vast  territories  of  the  British  Crown.  In  its 
courts  of  law  thousands  of  the  most  active  and  energetic 
minds  in  the  kingdom  are  engaged  in  their  intellectual 
competition  for  wealth  and  fame.  Its  commerce  spreads 
cut  its  arms  to  gather  wealth  from  the  whole  world,  and 
loads  its  merchants,  bankers,  brokers,  and  traders  of  every 
description,  with  princely  fortunes.  From  it  issues  a  mul- 
tifarious literature  to  elevate  or  to  degrade,  to  enlighten  or 
to  pervert,  to  bless  or  to  curse,  the  whole  family  of  man. 
Every  town  and  village  of  the  kingdom  pore  over  its  news- 
papers.     To  it,  as  to  the  center  of  fashion,  of  gayety,  of 


UPON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS.         275 

refinement,  of  knowledge,  and  of  benevolence,  myriads  of 
educated  persons  come  to  seek  the  enjoyments  congenial  to 
their  tastes,  while  foreigners  from  every  land  visit  it,  to 
study  our  institutions,  or  to  criticise  our  manners. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  much  to  corrupt  it.  It 
offers  unlimited  indulgence  and  infinite  luxury  to  enfeeble 
and  vitiate  the  wealthy  ;  for  whom  dissipating  amusements 
succeed  each  other  so  rapidly  as  to  make  an  indolent  and 
worthless  life  seem  busy  ;  and  oppress  with  fatigue  those 
w^hose  only  business  is  to  do  nothing.  Among  the  working 
classes,  myriads  who  crave  excitement  in  the  brief  intervals 
of  exhausting  toil  are  demoralized  by  gin-shops,  tea-gardens, 
and  low  theaters,  by  Sunday  newspapers  and  Sunday  ex- 
cursions, by  Socialist  lectures  and  by  infidel  magazines  ; 
and,  above  all,  a  hopeless  poverty,  which  has  steeped  mul- 
titudes to  the  very  lips,  has  made  them  regardless  of  relig- 
ion, loyalty,  character,  and  life  itself. 

There  is  no  place  in  the  world  w^hich  more  needs  earnest 
ministers  and  earnest  churches,  or  where  their  exertions 
would  be  more  effective.  What  an  influence  might  Lon- 
don exert  on  the  world  if  there  were  only  one  earnest  and 
enlightened  minister  to  each  thousand  persons  ;  if  rich  and 
poor,  princes,  nobles,  senators,  lawyers,  editors  of  newspa- 
pers, authors,  merchants  and  men  of  business,  mechanics 
and  laborers,  visitors  from  every  county,  and  foreigners 
from  every  land,  could  find  here  a  thousand  heart-stirring 
preachers,  and  a  thousand  congregations,  whose  piety,  zeal, 
and  brotherly-kindness,  might  recall  the  experience  of  the 
church  at  Jerusalem  when  the  grace  of  God  made  it  a 
praise  in  the  earth  I  ^ 

Yet,  for  this  unrivaled  city,  the  State,  professing  to  pro- 
vide for  its  spiritual  wants,  maintains,  directly  and  indi- 
rectly, 430  ministers,  98  of  whom  it  orders  to  confine  their 
ministrations  to  54,000  persons  withui  the  City  walls,  and 
assigns  to  the  remaining  332  the  charge  of  1,967,758  souls. 

Such  a  distribution  of  ministers  reduces  the  parochial 
system  to   an   absurdity ;    and   makes  the    Establishment 
itself,  with  respect  to  the  metropolis,  a  mere  delusion. 
'  Actsii.  41-47;  iv.  31-37. 


276        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

What  can  332  ministers  do  for  2,000,000  ?  What  do 
they  accomplish  in  fact  ?  Chosen  by  patronage,  independ- 
ent of  their  people,  with  a  discretionary  power  to  do  almost 
as  little  as  they  please  of  a  spiritual  kind,  do  they  lead  the 
metropoHs  to  Christ  ?  Will  they  ever  ?  Can  they,  or 
their  successors,  to  the  judgment-day  ? 

Individual  zeal,  however,  has  done  something  toward 
the  supply  of  ministerial  instruction  withheld  by  the  State. 
The  sittings  of  all  dissenters  in  426  chapels,  exclusive  of 
the  City,  are  231,618,  of  which  196,247  are  the  sittings 
of  four  evangelical  denominations.  The  sittings,  then,  of 
these  denominations,  being  five-sixths  of  the  whole  number 
of  dissenting  sittings,  the  number  of  their  ministers  will  be 
about  five-sixths  of  the  whole  number  of  dissenting  minis- 
ters, including  Catholic  priests  ;  and  assuming  that  there 
is  one  minister  to  each  chapel,  the  ministers  of  these  four 
denominations  are  about  five-sixths  of  426  =  355.  Thus 
we  have  355  ministers  of  four  evangelical  denominations, 
and  198  Anglican  ministers  maintained  by  individual  zeal 
for  the  modern  metropolis.  The  State  maintains  332  min- 
isters ;  the  Establishment  maintains  530  ;  and  individual 
zeal  maintains  553.  Individual  zeal  maintains  23  minis- 
ters more  than  the  Establishment,  and  221  more  than  the 
State. 

If  the  union  were  to  be  dissolved,  553  ministers  of  the 
metropolis  out  of  885  would  be  unafiected  by  it  ;  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  92  parishes  and  74  district 
churches  would  easily  maintain  the  332  ministers  who  are 
now  partly  maintained  by  the  State.  What  is  afibrded  by 
dissenters  of  every  class,  by  Unitarians  and  by  Homan 
Catholics,  the  Anglicans,  who  are  the  richest  of  all  classes, 
would  not  be  too  poor  or  too  niggardly  to  accomplish. 

We  learn  by  the  fact  above  stated,  that  individual  zeal  has 
done  much  more  than  the  State  for  the  diffiision  of  religious 
knowledge  in  the  metropolis  and  in  the  manufacturing  dis- 
tricts of  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  :  similar  results  are  found 
in  other  great  towns  and  populous  districts  of  the  country. 
But  both  the  State  and  individual  zeal  have  manilestly 
failed  fully  to  evangelize  the  population.     If  there  are  885 


UPON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS.         277 

ministers  in  five  evangelical  denominations  for  the  metro- 
polis, exclusive  of  the  City,  these,  being  a  supply  of  minis- 
ters for  885,000,  leave  1,967,758-885,000  =  1,082,758, 
without  ministers.      And  the  effect  of  this  is  worse  than 
appears  at  first  sight.      For  since  the  pastoral  charges  of 
the  ministers  of  the  parish  churches  and  the  district  churches 
extend  not  to  480,000,  whom  they  could,  in  a  measure, 
superintend;  but  to  the   1,967,758,  who  are  wholly  be- 
yond their  superintendence,  this  throws  upon  these  ministers 
such  a  mass  of  ecclesiastical  business  in  the  form  of  mar- 
riages,   baptisms,    burials,    registrations,    vestry   meetings, 
charity  schools,  &c.,  &c.,  that  little  time  is  left  for  pastoral 
intercourse  with  their  people  ;   and  as  each  of  these  480 
ministers  has  undertaken  to  be  the  pastor  of  4099  souls, 
among  whom  the  fraction  of  his  time  saved  from  this  load 
of  surplice  duty  is  to  be  distributed,  the  result  is,  that  he 
almost   entirely   ceases  to  be  a  pastor,   that   the  pastoral 
relation  in  the  civic  parishes  of  the  Establishment  is  no 
more.      London  has  not  480   Anglican  pastors,   but  480 
preachers  and  readers,  of  whom  scarcely  any  can  be  pastors 
at  all.      The  scriptural  idea  of  a  church  and  a  pastor  has 
almost  vanislied  from  the  Establishment  in  all  our  great 
towns. 

Under  these  wrcumstances,  how  anxiously  ought  the 
State,  in  the  discharge  of  its  episcopate,  to  have  facilitated 
the  erection  of  places  of  worship  by  individual  zeal,  and 
encouraged  both  Episcopalians  and  dissenters  to  maintain 
other  ministers,  and  to  gather  new  churches  from  among 
the  untaught  myriads. 

Instead  of  which  it  has  discouraged  both.  I  need  not 
repeat  what  has  already  been  said  of  the  hindrances  which 
the  existence  of  an  Establishment  creates  to  the  multiplica- 
tion of  dissenting  congregations.  It  is  obvious  that  the 
fear  of  being  esteemed  schismatics,  of  being  expelled  from 
fashionable  society,  of  being  degraded  and  proscribed,  of 
being  injured  in  business,  and  impeded  in  professional  efforts, 
with  other  similar  consequences  of  association  with  dissent- 
ers, must  confirm  many  i\nglicans  in  a  stiff',  unexamining 
resolution  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  dissent. 


278        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

Dissenters,  therefore,  labor  to  extend  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  under  great  disadvantages.  Meanwhile  the  union 
has  still  more  efTectually  checked  individual  zeal  within  the 
Establishment  itself.  Some  persons,  who  think  that  the 
State  is  bound  to  supply  ministers  to  the  whole  population, 
view  with  jealousy  every  voluntary  effort  as  tending  to 
diminish  the  responsibility  of  the  government.  Others  are 
backward  to  contribute  to  the  maintenance  of  ministers, 
because  they  think  that  a  part  of  the  enormous  episcopal 
and  cathedral  property  possessed  by  the  Establishment 
ought  to  be  appropriated  to  that  object. 

But  the  barriers  to  individual  zeal  created  by  the  union 
are  more  formidable  than  these. 

1 .  However  large  a  parish  may  be,  and  however  negli- 
gent its  rector,  no  portion  of  his  parishioners  can  form 
themselves  into  a  distinct  church  except  by  becoming  dis- 
senters. By  1  and  2  Victoria,  cap.  107,  it  is  lawful  for 
her  majesty  in  council  to  direct,  by  an  order  in  council,  the 
division  of  the  parish  into  separate  parishes  ;  but  five  thou- 
sand parishioners,  whose  legal  pastor  may  be  an  ungodly 
man,  or  so  loaded  with  business  that  he  is  no  pastor  at  all 
to  them,  can  not  choose  a  minister  for  themselves,  however 
willing  they  may  be  to  support  him.  The  privy-council 
may  enable  the  bishop  or  the  patron  to  set  a  new  rector 
over  them  ;  but  they  have  not  the  smallest  power  to  secure 
a  pastor  for  themselves. 

2.  When  the  privy-council  is  willing  to  allow  a  parish 
to  be  divided,  and  the  people  are  anxious  to  build  a  new 
place  of  worship,  the  bishop  may  hinder  the  whole  proceed- 
ing by  refusing  to  consecrate  it.  "  For  albeit  churches 
and  chapels  may  be  built  by  any  of  the  queen's  subjects, 
yet,  before  the  law  takes  knowledge  of  them  to  be  churches 
or  chapels,  the  bishop  is  to  consecrate  or  dedicate  them."^ 

3.  Should  the  bishop  be  willing  to  consecrate,  he  can  not 
do  it  until  the  building  is  adequately  endowed.  ^  A  thou- 
sand persons,  without  a  minister,  and  without  public  wor- 
ship, in  a  poor  district,  may,  by  vast  exertions,  raise  two 
or  three  thousand  pounds  for  a  new  building ;   and  their 

^  Burn,  vol.  i.  p.  322.  2  i^  ^   303. 


UPON  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MINISTERS.         279 

zeal  and  earnestness  may  secure  a  competent  income  to  any 
pious  pastor  who  may  minister  to  them,  but  unless  they 
can  raise  another  thousand  for  an  endowment,  they  must 
renounce  their  project,  and  remain  without  a  minister. 

4.  But  why  should  they  not  worship  in  an  unconsecrated 
building  ?  1 ,  No  unconsecrated  building  can  be  employed 
for  Anglican  worship  without  the  bishop's  license.^  2.  No 
clergyman  can  be  admitted  to  officiate  in  such  building 
without  the  bishop's  license.^  3.  The  bishop  has  an  ab- 
solute discretion  to  withhold  his  license  from  whom  he  will.^ 
4.  When  the  bishop  has  given  his  license,  he  may  with- 
draw it  when  he  will  without  formal  process  of  law.*  As, 
therefore,  the  privy-council  may  hinder  the  erection  of  a 
district  church,  and  the  law  prevents  the  consecration  of 
any  building  without  endowment,  so  the  bishop  has  the 
legal  power  to  prevent  the  employment  of  an  unconsecrated 
building  ;  and,  if  he  be  a  worldly  man,  unwilling  to  see  an 
evangelical  minister  in  his  diocese,  may  extinguish  their 
efforts  to  obtain  such  a  minister,  whether  for  a  consecrated 
or  unconsecrated  place. 

5.  But  suppose  the  chapel  to  be  built  and  the  bishop 
willing  to  license,  the  law  forbids  the  people  to  nominate 
their  minister.  "  Whenever  a  chapel-of-ease  is  erected,  the 
incumbent  of  the  mother  church  is  entitled  to  nominate  the 
minister,  unless  there  is  a  special  agreement  to  the  contrary 
which  gives  a  compensation  to  the  incumbent  of  the  mother 
church."  ^  The  rector  may  be  a  man  without  religion,  he 
may  have  done  nothing  to  raise  the  chapel,  the  persons 
whose  zeal  raised  it  may  disapprove  of  his  doctrine,  but  he 
has  the  right,  notwithstanding,  to  appoint  for  them  a  pastor 
whose  doctrine  they  may  condemn,  and  in  whose  character 
they  can  feel  no  confidence. 

6 .  Indeed  they  can  not  reach  this  point  without  his  con- 
sent. In  order  to  authorize  the  erecting  of  a  chapel-of- 
ease,  the  joint  consent  of  the  diocesan,  the  patron,  and  the 
incumbent,  are  all  required.      **  A  chapel  for  the  perform- 

^  Burn,  i.  322,  can.  71.  ^  lb.  ii.  61,  can.  48,  36. 

3  lb.  i.  156S  ^  ",  1.  "  lb.  ii.  74,  75;  i.  SOe*'. 

6  lb.  i.  305. 


280        INFLUEN'CE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

ance  of  public  worship,"  said  Sir  John  NichoU,  "can  not 
be  opened  without  consent  of  the  bishop,  the  minister  of  the 
parish,  and  I  think  the  patron  of  the  living."  ^  Either 
one  of  the  three  upon  any  caprice,  or  any  view  of  self- 
interest,  may  thus  deprive  the  people  of  their  plain  right  to 
assemble  lor  worship,  unless  they  consent  to  quit  their  own 
communion. 

7.  Should  the  people,  disregarding  the  legal  difficulty, 
build  their  chapel  without  leave  of  the  bishop,  patron,  and 
incumbent,  no  Anglican  minister  would  dare  to  preach  to 
them  therein,  however  they  might  desire  it.  "By  law  no 
persons  can  procure  divine  service  to  be  administered  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  incumbent  and  the  license  of  the 
bishop  ;  and  the  person  officiating  without  such  consent  is 
hable  to  ecclesiastical  censures."  "  For  there  is  no  general 
principle  of  ecclesiastical  law  more  firmly  established  than 
this,  that  it  is  not  competent  to  any  clergyman  to  officiate 
in  any  church  or  chapel  within  the  limits  of  a  parish  with- 
out consent  of  the  incumbent."  ^ 

8.  The  people  have  still  the  resource  left  of  gathermg 
into  private  houses,  and  in  those  populous  parishes  where 
there  is  really  no  pastor,  and  where  thousands  remain  un- 
taught, they  might  invite  pious  ministers  to  meet  them  in 
these  small  assemblies.  But  the  State  has  foreseen  and 
precluded  their  design,  for  canon  71  enacts,  that  "no  min- 
ister shall  preach  ...  in  any  private  house  .  .  .  upon  pain 
of  suspension."  Christ  has,  indeed,  commanded  his  minis- 
ters to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  ;  ^  and  it  is 
recorded  of  the  apostles,  that  daily  in  the  temple,  and  in 
every  house,  they  ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus 
Christ ;  ^  but  the  State  has  enacted,  that  throughout  En- 
gland no  Anglican  minister  shall  preach  Christ  without 
license  of  the  bishop,  and  without  consent  of  the  incumbent ; 
and  without  similar  license  and  consent  the  neglected  pop- 
ulation should  not  build  for  themselves  places  of  worship, 
nor  maintain  for  themselves  pastors,  nor  form  themselves 
into  Christian  churches.      These  laivs  sufficiently  account 

^  Burn,  vol.  i.  p.  300 ;  Sh  J.  Nicholl  in  Bum,  vol.  i.  p.  306". 
*  Burn,  i.  306\  ^  ^^rk  xvi.  16.  ''  Acts  v.  42. 


MAINTENANCE  OF  MINISTERS.  281 

for  the  foft,  that  in  the  metropolis  alone  the  State  lias 
left  one  million  of  souls  without  pastors,  and  Christians 
look  on  and  do  nothing. 

But  the  dissolution  of  the  union  will  come,  and  then  the 
legal  hindrances  to  the  introduction  of  new  ministers,  arising 
from  patronage  and  from  parochial  monopoly,  will  cease. 
Pious  members  of  the  Anglican  churches,  thenceforth  able 
to  build  for  themselves  a  house  of  prayer  wherever  and 
whenever  they  will,  can  also  call  any  pious  minister  whom 
they  may  choose,  to  take  the  pastoral  office  among  them. 
Vulgar  prejudices  against  dissent  will  likewise  cease  ;  and 
the  churches  of  England,  free  from  State  shackles,  will 
prove  themselves  not  less  zealous  than  the  churches  of 
America  :  London  will  not  be  less  supplied  with  Christian 
temples  than  New  York ;  and  we  shall  no  longer  have 
occasion  to  fear  the  vast  addition  to  the  population,  for 
whom  Christian  zeal  will  then  provide  ministers  and 
teachers  according  to  their  wants. 

Section  III. — Influence  of  the  Union  on  the  Maintenance 
of  Ministers. 

It  is  not  certain  that  the  system  of  payment  which 
makes  the  clergy  most  wealthy  is  the  best  system.  The 
first  ministers  of  Christ  were  poor.  St.  Paul  worked  for 
his  maintenance  at  Corinth,  Ephesus,  and  Thessalonica  ;  ^ 
and  other  ministers  in  those  churches  would  not  receive  a 
larger  maintenance  than  the  apostles.  It  is  probable  that 
all  ministers  then  labored  to  support  themselves,  because 
the  churches  were  generally  poor  ;  yet  these  churches  had 
much  grace,  and  their  ministers,  chosen  by  the  churches 
and  sanctioned  by  the  apostles,  were  undoubtedly  effective 
men. 

When  churches  are  poor,  their  ministers  may  be  likewise 
poor  without  disadvantage  :  but  Christ  has  ordained  that, 
whether  ministering  to  poor  or  rich,  they  should  be  main- 
tained according  to  their  needs.      This  he  has  claimed  for 

1  1  Cor.  ix.  11-15;  2  Cor.  xi.  7-9;  1  Cor.  iv.  11,  12  j  Acts 
xviii.  1-3  ;  Acts  xx.  33-35 ;   2  Thess.  iii.  8,  9. 


282       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

them  on  the  principle  of  justice  :  "  Provide  neither  gold, 
nor  silver,  nor  brass  in  your  purses,  nor  scrip  for  your 
journey,  neither  two  coats,  neither  shoes,  nor  yet  staves  ; 
for  the  ivm-kman  is  worthy  of  his  meat?  .  .  .  And  in  the 
same  house  remain  eating  and  drinking  such  things  as 
they  give  ;  for  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hirer  "^  Paul 
also  appeals  to  the  justice  of  Christians  when  he  asks  a 
maintenance  for  their  ministers  :  '■'If  ice  have  soitm  unto 
yait  sinritual  things,  is  it  a  great  thing  if  we  shall  reap 
your  carnal  things  ?"  ^  And  as  thus  the  maintenance  of 
those  who  devote  their  time  and  faculties  to  the  service  of 
the  churches  should  in  justice  be  maintained  by  the  church- 
es, the  payment  of  this  debt  is  expressly  enjoined  by  the 
authority  of  Christ :  "  Do  ye  not  kimw  that  they  ivhich 
minister  about  holy  things  live  of  the  thi?igs  of  the  tem- 
ple ?  And  they  which  wait  at  the  altar  are  partakers 
with  the  altar  ?  Even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained  that 
they  which  preach  the  Gospel  should  live  of  the  Gospel} 
.  .  .  Let  him  tJiat  is  taught  in  the  ivord  communicate  to 
him  that  teacheth  in  all  good  things.^  .  .  .  Let  the  elders 
%uho  rule  well  be  counted  ivorthy  of  double  honor,  especial- 
ly they  who  labor  in  the  ivord  and  doctrine.  Foi'  the 
scripture  saith,  Thou  shall  not  muzzle  the  ox  that  tread- 
eth  out  the  corn ;  and.  The  laborer  is  ivorthy  of  his  re- 
ward.'' These  injunctions  demand  a  maintenance  for  all 
those  who  are  called  to  minister  by  the  authority  of  Christ, 
and  who  have  the  qualifications  for  the  ministry  which  his 
Sj)irit  imparts ;  but  they  neither  urge  the  churches  to  give, 
nor  entitle  their  ministers  to  expect,  any  thing  approaching 
to  wealth.  In  a  civilized  and  rich  community  it  is  very 
desirable  that  ministers  should  have  a  liberal  education, 
possess  a  good  library,  and  be  able  to  devote  their  time  and 
their  faculties  to  the  ministry  without  temporal  cares ; 
because  these  things  are  necessary  for  their  efficiency  :  but 
these  things  may  be  had  without  much  wealth.  It  is 
undesirable  that  ministers  should  be  as  rich  as  the  richest 
members  of  their  churches,  or  as  poor  as  the  poorest.     The 

1  Matt.  X.  9,  10.  2  Luke  x.  7.  ^  I  Cor.  ix.  11. 

<  1  Cor.  ix.  13,  14.  «  Gal.  vi.  6. 


MAINTENANCE  OF  MINISTERS.  283 

one  condition  would  tempt  them  to  pride,  the  other  to  ser- 
vility. The  one  would  make  them  self-indulgent,  the  other 
burden  them  with  care.  A  middle  condition  is  probably 
that  in  which  ministers  can  best  promote  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  churches  ;  in  which  a  minister  who  lives 
within  his  income,  and  reserves  some  surplus  for  charity,  is 
richer  than  the  richest  who  expend  beyond  their  means  ;  is 
protected  from  the  envy  of  the  poor  by  his  simplicity  of 
life,  and  is  shielded  from  the  contempt  of  the  rich  by  his 
independence,  refinement,  and  knowledge. 

It  is  further  conducive  to  the  welfare  of  the  churches 
that  the  income  of  the  minister  should  correspond  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  church.  Wealth  raises  the  minister 
of  a  poor  people  to  a  condition  in  which  neither  party  can 
fully  sympathize  with  the  other  :  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
if  a  church  abounds  in  wealth,  the  minister,  if  very  poor, 
can  scarcely  associate  with  its  members  on  terms  of  equali- 
ty, or  visit  them  at  their  houses,  or  receive  them  at  his 
own. 

These  obvious  principles  have  been  too  much  disregarded 
by  the  State.  The  total  nett  income  of  the  Establishment 
in  1836  was  3,439,767/.,  and,  reckoning  the  working 
clergy  at  12,923,  this  total  would  yield  to  each  an  income 
of  266Z.  But  to  ascertain  the  actual  payments  made  to 
the  working  clergy  in  general,  we  must  make  large  deduc- 
tions from  the  nett  income  of  the  Establishment  before  we 
strike  our  average. 

1 .  We  have  first  to  subtract  the  incomes  of  the  prelates. 
The  nett  revenues  of  the  sees  as  returned  to  the  commis- 
sioners of  ecclesiastical  inquiry,  at  an  average  of  three 
years  ending  with  1831,  was  as  follows  : — 

Canterbury 6619,182 

York 12,629 

Durham 19,066 

Ely 11,105 

London 13,929 

Winchester 11,151 

Total  of  six  sees 87,062 

Total  of  twenty-seven  sees 160,292 


284   INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

By  the  6th  and  7th  "Will.  IV.  cap.  77,  it  was  enacted  that, 
"  In  order  to  provide  for  the  augmentation  of  the  incomes  of 
the  smaller  bishoprics,  such  fixed  annual  sums  be  paid  to 
the  commissioners  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  larger  sees  re- 
spectively, as  shall  be  determined  on,  so  as  to  leave  an 
average  annual  income  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
15,000/.  ;  to  the  Archbishop  of  York,  10,000/.  ;  to  the 
Bishop  of  London,  10,000/.  ;  to  the  Bishop  of  Durham, 
8000/.  ;  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  7000/.  ;  the  Bishop 
of  Ely,  5500/.  ;  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  5200/.  ;  the 
Bishop  of  Worcester,  5000/.  ;  the  Bishop  of  Bath  and 
Wells,  5000/.  ;  and  that  the  annual  incomes  of  the  other 
bishops  respectively  be  not  less  than  4000/.  nor  more  than 
5000/."  ^  The  revenues  of  the  poorer  sees  have,  since  the 
passing  of  the  act,  been  augmented  by  means  of  the  surplus 
from  the  richer;  which,  amounting  to  157,000/.,  has  been 
paid  into  the  hands  of  the  commissioners.^  A  further  sum 
of  92,402/.  having  been  realized  by  the  sale  of  certain 
episcopal  estates,  the  ecclesiastical  commissioners  employed 
this  sum  of  249,402/.  as  follows  : — 

In  augmenting  poor  sees c:^106,388 

On  episcopal  residences 143,014 

Total .£249,402 

The  143,014/.  was  expended  on  the  purchase  and  im- 
provement of  the  residences  of  eight  of  the  bishops,  and 
was  distributed  as  follows  : — 

Ripon <£16,111 

Bath  and  Wells 3,000 

Oxford 6,500 

Exeter 3,500 

Worcester 7,000 

Gloucester 23,672 

Rochester 28,832 

Lincoln 54,444 

Total  expended  on  eight  palaces d£l43,014 

When  all  the   arrangements  of  the  commissioners  are 
completed,  the  whole  annual  expenditure  of  the  State  in 
^  Burn,  vol.  i.  p.  195^.  *  Horsman,  p.  9. 


MAINTENANCE  OF  MINISTERS.  285 

support  of  the  prelates,  besides  the  mterest  of  the  sums  spent 
on  the  palaces,  will  be  as  follows : — 

Canterbury c£l 5,000 

York 10,000 

London 10,000 

Durham 8,000 

Winchester 7,000 

Ely 5,500 

St.  Asaph 5,200 

Worcester 5,000 

Bath  and  Wells 5,000 

19  other  sees  (4000/.)   76,000 

Total  on  twenty-eight  sees d€l 46,700 

This  must  be  deducted  from  the  income  of  the  Establish- 
ment before  we  can  ascertain  the  payments  made  to  the 
w^orking  clergy. 

2.  We  must  next  deduct  the  incomes  of  the  cathedral 
clergy  and  the  cathedrals.  The  Dean  of  Durham  has  a 
nett  income,  exclusive  of  the  expense  of  the  Establishment, 
of  4800Z.  a  year  ;  and  the  chapter,  of  32,1 6 OZ.  The  dean 
of  Oxford  has  3113/,;  and  the  chapter,  14,736/.  The 
dean  of  Westminster  has  2979/. ;  and  the  chapter,  17,566/. 
"  The  total  amount  of  the  gross  annual  revenues  of  the 
several  cathedral  and  collegiate  churches  in  England  and 
Wales  is  284,241/.  ;  and  the  total  amount  of  the  nett 
annual  revenues  of  the  same  is  208,289/.^  By  a  recent 
act  the  cathedral  incomes  have  been  reduced,  so  that 
henceforth,  as  the  prebendaries  die  off,  each  cathedral 
establishment  will  consist  of  a  dean,  whose  average  income 
is  to  be  1680/.  ;  of  four  canons,  whose  average  incomes 
are  to  be  800/.,  and  six  minor  canons  with  150  each."^ 
So  that  the  cathedrals,  excluding  the  minor  canons,  will 
stand  nearly  thus  : — 

26  deans,  at  1680Z 6643,680 

104  canons,  at  800/ 83,200 

156  minor  canons,  at  150/ 23,400 

Total  income  of  cathedral  clergy 66150,280 

»  M'Culloch,  vol.  ii.  pp.  399,  411.  ^  Horsman,  p.  27. 


286        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

This  sum  must  be  subtracted  from,  the  income  of  the 
EstabHshment  before  we  strike  the  average  incomes  of  its 
working  ministers. 

3.  We  have  next  to  subtract,  before  we  can  make  an 
average  of  the  incomes  of  the  great  majority  of  the  working 
clergy,  the  incomes  of  some  of  the  richer  benefices.  Some 
of  these  are  as  follows  : — 

954  have  incomes  from  66500  to  ^6750 

323  "  750  to  1,000 

134  "  1,000  to  1,500 

32  "  1,500  to  2,000 

13  "  2,000  to  3,000 

3  "  3^000  to  4,000 

1  "  4,843 

1  "  7,306 

Thus  1461  have  incomes  varying  from  5001.  to  3000Z. 
and  upward ;  and,  if  we  take  their  average  income  as  700Z., 
the  aggregate  of  their  annual  incomes  is  1,022,700Z. 

These  three  items,  if  added  together,  are  large  : — 

The  revenues  of  28  prelates 6£l46,700 

"  286  deans  and  canons 150,280 

"  1461  incumbents 1,022,700 

"  1619  bishops  and  clergy c£l, 319,680 

4.  It  will  be  further  convenient  for  our  examination  to 
separate  a  fourth  class,  whose  incomes  are  above  the  average. 
There  are  830  incumbents  with  incomes  from  400/.  to 
6001.  ;  1326,  with  incomes  from  3001.  to  400Z.  ;  1979, 
with  incomes  from  200/.  to  300Z.  ;  and  then  there  are 
4135,  whose  incomes  vary  from  200Z.  to  500Z.  If  we  take 
the  average  of  their  incomes  at  300Z.,  their  aggregate 
amounts  to  1,240,500/. 

If  we  add  to  this  the  aggregate  incomes  of  the  three 
previous  classes,  which  together  amount  to  1,319,680/., 
these  sums  together  make  2,560,180/.,  and  subtracting 
this  amount  from  3,439,767/.,  which  we  have  seen  to  be 
the  income  of  the  Establishment,  we  find  that  the  remain- 
ing sum  to  be  distributed  among  the  remainder  of  the  clergy 
is  879,587/.  . 


MAINTENANCE  OF  MINISTERS.  28? 

5.  There  remain  4882  incumbents,  among  whom  the 
sum  of  879,587Z.  is  to  be  divided,  which  would  yield  to 
each  an  average  income  of  1 8  01.  But  this  is  indeed  above 
the  real  average,  for  297  have  beneath  50/.  per  annum, 
1629  have  beneath  100/.,  and  1602  have  beneath  150/., 
while  1354,  alone,  have  between  150/.  and  200/.  The 
average  of  even  150/.  must  be  beyond  the  truth. 

To  these  poor  incumbents  must  be  added  5230  poorei 
curates,  whose  salaries  average  81/.,  the  aggregate  being 
only  423,630/.  These  two  classes  together  amount  to 
10,112,  and  as  the  whole  number  of  working  clergy  are 
only  12,923,  they  compose  more  than  three-fourths  of  the 
working  clergy.  These  together  receive  about  732,300/. 
X  423,630/.  =  1,155,030/.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  1619 
clergymen  receive  1,319,680/.,  i.e.  1691  clergymen  re- 
ceive more  from  the  State  than  10,112  who  do  nearly  all 
the  work.  1619  clergymen,  who  have  got  the  great 
prizes  of  the  Establishment,  have  an  average  of  808/.  ; 
and  10,112  of  the  working  clergy  have  an  average  of 
114/.  The  1619  have  salaries  from  the  State  seven  times 
larger  than  their  more  laborious  brethren. 

The  inequalities  in  the  favors  of  the  State  are  still  more 
remarkable  when  seen  in  detail.  In  the  diocese  of  Glou- 
cester, where  23,000/.  was  spent  upon  the  palace,  there 
are  97  livings  under  100/.  a  year.  In  Lincoln,  where 
54,000/.  have  been  expended  on  the  palace  and  its  grounds, 
there  are  218  benefices  under  100/.  a  year  ;  and  in  the 
eight  dioceses,  on  which  the  commissioners  spent  143,000/ 
upon  the  eight  palaces,  there  are  502  clergymen  whose 
official  incomes  are  severally  less  than  100/.  a  year.^  As 
the  amount  of  the  incomes  of  these  502  clergymen  when 
taken  together  is  50,200/.,  the  State  spent  more  than  twice 
the  income  of  502  ministers  upon  these  eight  houses.  Each 
house  cost  on  the  average  17,876/.  ;  each  swallowed  up 
one  year's  income  of  178  ministers  in  those  dioceses  ;  and 
although  each  of  those  prelates  already  possessed  revenues, 
the  arrangements  of  the  commissioners  have  raised  each  to 
4000/.,  equal  to  40  of  their  incumbents.  Facts  like  these 
^  Horsman,  pp.  14,  15. 


288        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

led  Mr.  Sydney  Smith  to  say,  with  some  exaggeration,  but 
also  with  some  truth,  "  Why  is  the  Church  of  England  to 
be  nothing  but  a  collection  of  beggars  and  bishops  ?  the 
right  reverend  Dives  in  the  palace,  and  Lazarus  in  orders 
at  the  gate,  doctored  by  dogs  and  comforted  by  crumbs  ?"  ^ 

While,  however,  the  commissioners  were  building  or 
repairing  the  bishops'  palaces,  they  were  also  augmenting 
the  poorer  livings  in  these  dioceses.  Yet,  their  aid  was 
such  as  only  to  bring  into  more  glaring  contrast  the 
preference  of  the  State  for  its  prelates.  They  spent  on 
the  palaces  143,000Z.,  they  doled  out  to  the  pauper  clergy, 
as  Mr.  Horsman  terms  them,  52591.  ;  that  is,  they  spent 
twenty-seven  times  as  much  upon  the  palaces  as  upon  the 
pastors.  The  cases  of  the  502  pastors  in  the  eight  dioceses 
have  unhappily  too  many  parallels  in  other  places;  10,000 
out  of  13,000  working  clergy  having,  on  an  average,  under 
114Z.  per  annum. 

This  poverty,  inflicted  on  the  pastors  by  the  union,  is 
the  more  noxious,  because  the  union  secures  the  least  pay- 
ments to  those  who  ought  to  receive  the  largest.  Rich 
pastors  to  poor  congregations  can  scarcely  be  brothers 
among  brethren.  How  can  the  tenants  and  laborers,  who 
make  up  the  church  of  which  a  squire  in  orders  is  pastor, 
feel  toward  him  as  brethren  to  a  brother  ?  Much  more 
readily  would  they  trust  and  love  a  pastor  who  with  equal 
piety  should  be  nearer  to  the  level  of  their  condition.  For 
similar  reasons  a  very  poor  pastor  has  to  struggle  with 
great  difficulties  in  an  opulent  city  and  with  a  rich  con- 
gregation. Great  talent,  great  grace,  and  resolute  deter- 
mination to  avoid  all  debt,  may  enable  him  to  surmount 
them  all  as  Paul  did  at  Corinth ;  but  wealth  is  so  much 
valued  in  this  country  that  a  very  poor  pastor  can  scarcely 
minister  to  a  rich  people  as  a  brother  to  brethren,  and 
except  in  rare  cases  would  be  placed  as  disadvantageously 
as  a  rich  pastor  among  a  poor  people. 

Now  the  State  by  its  union  with  the  churches  has 
created  both  these  evils.  Its  rich  pastors  are  often  among 
the  poor,  and  its  poor  pastors  are  among  the  rich.  The 
^  Horsman,  p.  15. 


MAINTENANCE  OF  MINISTERS.  289 

6681  parishes,  which  have  under  300  souls  in  them 
probably  comprehend  by  far  the  larger  number  of  1461 
pastors  who  have  from  500/.  to  3000/.  per  annum.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  payment  of  the  State  to  its  city  min- 
isters may  be  judged  from  the  following  statements  in  the 
last  report  of  the  Pastoral  Aid  Society.  "  The  Society 
now  aids  301  incumbents  who  have  under  their  care  an 
aggregate  population  of  2,077,703  souls,  or  each  on  an 
average  6902.  The  average  income  of  these  incumbents 
is  about  200/.,  while  154  of  them  have  no  parsonage- 
houses."  ^  "  The  committee  during  the  year  have  made 
twenty  new  grants."  "  The  aggregate  population  of  the 
districts  to  which  these  new  grants  have  been  made  is 
152,218,  which  number  gives  an  average  of  about  8000 
to  each  incumbent,  while  the  average  amount  of  their 
incomes  is  only  164/.,  and  thirteen  of  them  are  without 
parsonage-houses."^  "The  committee  have  now  before 
them  a  list  of  fifty-six  applications."  "  The  average  pop- 
ulation under  the  charge  of  the  applic&-nts  is  5  6  8  8  to  each ; 
the  average  amount  of  their  incomes  is  183/.,  and  44  of 
them  are  without  parsonage-houses."  ^  These  301  pastors, 
whose  incomes  average  200/.,  among  the  merchants,  man- 
ufacturers, and  shopkeepers  of  the  great  towns,  and  the 
1461  pastors  whose  incomes  vary  from  500/.  to  1000/. 
among  poor  villagers,  must  find  it  almost  equally  difficult 
to  be  as  brethren  among  brethren. 

By  6  and  7  William  IV.,  the  income  of  the  archbishop 
of  Canterbury  is  reduced  to  15,000/.  ;  and  the  union,  by 
the  aid  of  individual  zeal  has  secured  200/.  per  annum  to 
each  of  301  pastors,  who  have  under  their  care  2,077,703 
souls,  affording  an  average  of  6902  to  each.  The  mcome, 
therefore,  of  the  archbishop  equals  the  income  of  75  of 
these  incumbents,  and  swallows  up  as  much  as  the  State 
has  afforded  for  the  spiritual  instruction  of  517,650  souls. 

The  State  has  allotted  60,700/.  per  annum  to  the  arch- 
bishops of  Canterbury  and  York,  Avith  the  bishops  of 
London,  Durham,  Winchester,  Ely,  and  St.  Asaph  ;  and 
with  the  aid  of  individual  zeal  it  has  afforded  60,200/.  per 

'  Report,  p.  24.  2  lb;  p.  26.  ^  lb.  p.  28. 

N 


290        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

anmim  to  301  pastors,  who  have  charge  of  2,077,703 
souls.  It  has  given  the  same  sum  to  seven  prelates  that 
it  has  given  to  the  pastors  of  two  millions  of  the  people  ; 
and  while  it  has  given  palaces  to  the  prelates,  it  has  not 
given  a  cottage  to  154  of  these  pastors. 

These  figures  show  that  in  the  event  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  union,  this  country  will  probably  maintain  a  num- 
ber of  pastors  not  much  less  than  the  number  of  its  effective 
pastors  at  present,  and  will  afford  them  as  good  an  income. 

The  number  of  the  working  clergy  at  present  is  12,923, 
of  whom  2871  receive  incomes  varying  from  2007.  up- 
ward. But  as  5230  curates  receive  an  average  income 
of  8lZ.,  and  4882  incumbents  receive  an  average  income 
of  150Z.,  there  are  10,112  pastors  who  receive  altogether 
annually  423, 630Z.  +  732,300/.  =  1,155,930?.,  which 
yields  an  average  income  to  each  of  114Z. 

It  is  highly  improbable  that  the  Anglican  Churches, 
after  the  dissolution  of  the  union,  will  fail  to  maintain 
10,112  pastors  at  an  average  income  of  114/. 

Assuming  that  one-fourth  of  the  population  dissent  from 
the  Establishment,  and  that  another  fourth,  through  the 
long  neglect  of  the  Establishment,  have  sunk  into  irrelig- 
ious habits,  and  would  make  no  sacrifice  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  Christian  ministers,  there  remain  eight  millions 
of  Anglicans  ;  and  if  these  should  maintain  10,1 12  pastors 
at  an  average  cost  of  114Z.  for  each,  or  of  1,155,930/.  for 
all,  this  would  allow  one  pastor  to  every  791,  at  a  cost  of 
three  shillings  to  each. 

Have  we  reason  to  think  that  the  Anglican  Churches, 
when  freed  from  the  shackles  of  the  State,  will  make  the 
sacrifice  ? 

Assuming,  as  before,  that  evangelical  dissenters  amount 
to  four  millions,  who  maintain  7900  ministers,  we  find 
that  they  maintain,  on  an  average,  one  minister  for  every 
506  souls. ^  The  salaries  of  these  ministers  vary  from  50/, 
to  600/.,  and  the  average  is  taken  by  Mr.  Conder  at  110/.^ 
This  sum,  divided  among  506  persons,  assigns  four  shillings 
and  a  fraction  to  each.      Four  millions,  therefore,  of  evan- 

'  See  p.  247.         ^  Conder's  "View  of  all  Religions,"  p.  422. 


MAINTENANCE  OF  MINISTERS.  291 

gelical  dissenters  in  England  and  Wales  maintain  7900 
ministers,  with  average  salaries  of  11 01.,  at  an  averao-e 
cost  of  four  shillings  to  each  member  of  their  congregations. 
If  eight  millions  of  Anglicans,  when  severed  from  the  State, 
shall  do  as  much,  they  will  maintain  just  twice  that  num- 
ber of  ministers  at  the  same  salary  ;  that  is,  they  will 
maintain  15,800  at  a  salary  of  11 OZ.  ;  whereas  the  State 
now  maintains  only  13,000,  of  whom  10,000  have  only 
an  average  salary  of  1 1 4Z. 

The  members  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  who 
foTm  about  one-fourth  of  the  whole  population  of  Scotland, 
and  are  about  657,239  in  number,  maintain  above  700 
ministers.  These  ministers  received  in  the  last  year 
(1847-8)  80,959/.  from  their  common  fund,  which  yield- 
ed 1 1  51.  to  each.  The  collections  for  congregational  ob- 
jects further  amounted  to  71,850/.,  from  which  additions 
were  made  to  the  stipends  of  many  of  the  pastors ;  and  the 
whole  sum  raised  within  the  year  for ^  religious  objects,  by 
the  churches  collectively,  was  221,589/.,  which  affords  an 
average  of  3 1 6/.  to  each  minister.  Very  few  of  the  aris- 
tocracy of  Scotland  belong  to  the  Free  Church  ;  but  657,- 
239  of  the  middle  and  poorer  classes  maintain  for  them- 
selves 700  pastors,  or  one  pastor  to  each  938  members,  at 
a  cost  of  six  shillings  to  each  member.  If  eight  millions 
of  Anglicans,  when  free  from  the  shackles  of  the  State, 
should  do  as  much,  being  twelve  times  as  numerous,  they 
could  maintain  16,800  ministers,  at  an  average  salary  of 
115/.,  which  is  more  than  the  present  average  salary  of 
10,000  Anglican  ministers,  and  would  raise,  besides  43/. 
for  other  religious  objects  in  each  of  the  16,800  congrega- 
tions :  a  supply  of  instruction  vastly  beyond  that  which  is 
now  afforded  by  the  Establishment, 

The  experience  of  the  United  States,  where  the  main- 
tenance of  Christian  ministers  is  left,  as  it  ought  to  be,  by 
the  State  to  the  Christian  churches,  is  similar  to  that  of 
the  free  churches  of  England  and  of  Scotland.  The  num- 
ber of  hearers  in  four  evangelical  denominations  being 
13,885,000  sustain  14,931  regular  ministers,  besides  local 
preachers  :   that  is,  one  minister  for  every  925   hearers. 


292        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

Respecting  the  support  of  these  ministers,  Mr.  Baird  writes 
as  follows  : — "The  clergy  of  all  evangeUcal  denominations, 
with  two  exceptions,  receive  paid  salaries  from  their  people, 
and  are  expected  to  devote  themselves  to  their  proper  vo- 
cation. The  exceptions  are  a  part  of  the  Baptist  minis- 
ters, and  all  the  Quaker  preachers."  ^  «'  Few,  if  any,  of 
them  receive  salaries  that  would  enable  them  to  live  in  the 
style  in  which  the  wealthiest  of  their  parishioners  live  ; 
their  incomes  are  not  equal  to  those  of  the  greater  number 

of  lawyers  and  physicians There  are  few,  if  any,  of 

them  who,  with  economy,  can  do  more  than  live  upon  their 
salaries.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the  greater  number  are 
able,  with  economy,  to  live  comfortably  and  respectably. 
In  New  England,  if  we  except  Boston,  the  salaries  of  the 
Congregational,  Episcopalian,  and  Baptist  pastors  are,  in 
the  largest  towns,  from  800  to  1200  dollars;  in  the  vil- 
lages and  country  churches  they  vary  from  300  or  400  to 
700  or  800,  besides  which  the  minister  sometimes  has  a 
house  and  a  few  acres  of  land,  and  receives  a  good  many 
presents."^  "The  salaries  in  the  largest  and  wealthiest 
churches  of  the  principal  cities  are  handsome  :  1500  dollars, 
1800,  2000,  2500,  are  the  sums  commonly  given,  and  in 
a  few  cases  3000,  3500,  and  even  4000."  "As  it  is,  they 
are  enabled  to  live,  with  great  economy,  in  comfort ;  and  a 
faithful  pastor  will  nowhere  be  allowed  to  starve.  In  no 
country  of  the  world  are  ministers  more  respected  by  the 
people.  Many  of  them  belong  to  families  of  the  first  rank  ; 
and  as  they  can,  at  least,  give  their  families  a  good  educa- 
tion, their  children  are  almost  invariably  prosperous,  and 
often  form  alliances  with  the  wealthiest  and  m.ost  distin- 
guished families  in  the  country."^ 

When,  therefore,  the  Anglican  churches  shall  be  freed 
from  their  bondage  to  the  State,  if  they  shall  do  as  much 
as  is  done  for  the  cause  of  God  by  the  American  churches, 
they  will  maintain  in  comfort  one  minister  for  every  thou- 
sand hearers;  that  is,  8000  ministers,  besides  numerous 
local  preachers.  If  they  do  as  much  as  the  members  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  they  will  maintain  16,800 

1  Baird,  p.  403.  ^  ji,.  3  n,^  pp  304-306. 


MAINTENANCE  OF  MINISTERS.  293 

ministers  at  the  same  average  salary  as  is  now  paid  by  the 
State  to  10,000  out  of  13,000  of  the  working  clergy, 
namely,  1 1 5Z. ;  and  if  they  do  as  much  as  the  free  churches 
of  England,  they  will  maintain  15,800  at  an  average 
salary  of  110/.,  besides  raising  large  contributions  for 
schools,  missions,  and  other  works  of  Christian  benevolence. 

To  allege  that  the  Anglican  Christians  will  not  mani- 
fest the  same  liberality  as  Americans,  Scotchmen,  and  En- 
glish dissenters,  is  to  condemn  the  Establishment  to  eternal 
shame.  Has  it,  then,  so  withered  up  the  charity  of  its 
members,  so  blunted  their  sense  of  duty,  so  stupefied  them 
with  religious  indifference  and  selfish  love  of  money,  that 
while  the  members  of  other  free  churches,  both  foreign  and 
domestic,  liberally  maintain  their  ministers,  they  only 
would  refuse  ?  If  so,  it  is  time  that  the  union  should 
cease.  It  is  a  tree  of  deadly  poison,  beneath  which  zeal 
and  conscience  die.  But  bad  as  its  influence  has  been, 
Anglicans  can  not  be  so  hopelessly  injured  that  freedom 
would  not  restore  their  energy.  W'e  must  not  judge  of 
what  they  would  do  if  free  from  what  they  do  in  bonds. 

The  members  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  while 
their  ministers  were  paid  by  the  State,  no  more  thought  of 
exercising  Christian  liberality  toward  their  pastors  than 
Anglican  Christians  now  do.  But  new  circumstances 
called  forth  new  principles.  English  Christians  are  not 
necessarily  inferior  to  Scottish  Christians  ;  and  let  them 
only  be  emancipated  from  the  State's  golden  chain,  and 
they  will  soon  emulate  their  northern  brethren  in  liberal- 
ity. Since  the  members  of  the  free  churches  of  England, 
Scotland,  and  America,  maintain  their  ministers  liberally, 
the  Anglican  churches,  Avhen  free,  will  eventually  do  the 
same. 

It  is  often  argued  that  some  great  ecclesiastical  incomes 
are  necessary  to  attract  men  of  rank  and  talent  into  the 
ministry,  whereby  the  whole  body  of  pastors  is  made  more 
influential,  and  that  the  separation  of  the  churches  from 
the  State,  by  destroying  these  larger  incomes,  would  dete- 
riorate the  ministry.  But — 1.  If  rich  livings  attract  men 
of  talent  and  learning,  they  attract  much  larger  numbers 


294        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

of  the  weak  aiid  vicious,  the  idle  and  the  worldly,  who  are 
related  to  patrons.  2.  Men  of  rank  and  talent  without 
piety  are  not  called  to  the  ministry  by  Christ,  and  are  un- 
able to  fulfill  its  duties.  The  business  of  a  minister  is  to 
convert  sinners  and  to  build  up  Christians  ;  but  how  can 
those  who  are  unconverted  do  either  the  one  or  the  other  ? 
3.  Men  of  rank  and  talent,  if  they  are  called  by  God  to 
the  ministry,  being  animated  by  zeal  for  God  and  charity 
toward  men,  will  enter  it  if  it  entails  poverty,  as  readily  as 
if  it  promises  M^ealth.  4.  Free  churches  attr.act,  on  the 
whole,  more  talent  to  the  mmistry  than  establishments,  be- 
cause patronage,  by  advancing  worthless  relatives  over  the 
heads  of  men  of  the  highest  worth,  sentences  the  latter 
class  to  neglect  and  obscurity  ;  but  churches  ever  choose 
for  their  pastors  those  from  whose  ability  and  zeal  they  can 
derive  the  greatest  advantage.  Able  and  zealous  men  are 
also  more  likely  to  choose  the  ministry  in  free  churches,  be- 
cause in  them  they  are  more  likely  to  fill  important  spheres 
of  action  in  city  congregations.  And  if  we  have  able  and 
zealous  ministers,  why  should  we  regret  it  if  there  are  none 
of  rank  and  wealth  ?  It  is  thought  that  without  rank  and 
wealth  Christian  ministers  will  lose  their  influence  over  the 
higher  classes  ?  Exactly  the  reverse  is  the  truth.  Can 
any  sincere  man  think  that  ecclesiastical  wealth  at  this 
moment  makes  any  clergymen  effective  evangelists  ?  How 
many  noblemen,  rich  squires,  members  of  Parliament,  bank- 
ers, and  merchants,  at  this  moment,  in  this  country,  are 
converted  to  be  humble  and  holy  disciples  of  Christ,  to  live 
by  faith,  and  to  seek  the  glory  of  Christ  in  their  daily  life, 
through  the  exhortations  and  examples  of  prelates,  deans, 
and  rich  dignitaries  ?  God  the  Spirit  evidently  much  more 
works  by  humble  pastors  without  wealth,  both  in  and  out 
of  the  Establishment.  Bishops  and  other  dignitaries  may 
receive  princes  and  nobles  to  their  splendid  hospitahty  ; 
but  who  can  think  that  such  baronial  guests  are  likely  to 
turn  to  God  and  to  welcome  a  life  of  faith  and  self-denial 
through  their  enjoyment  of  a  loaded  table,  graced  though  it 
be  by  the  intelligence  and  urbanity  of  its  right  reverend 
possessor  ?     Men  of  the  stamp  of  John  the  Baptist  are 


MAINTENANCE  OF  MINISTERS.  295 

much  more  likely  to  accomplish  this  work.  Talent,  learn- 
ing, earnestness,  strength  of  character,  poverty — these  are 
the  things  in  ministers  which  must  subdue  both  high  and 
low  to  Christ ;  not  palaces,  or  liveried  servants,  or  sump- 
tuous festivity.  The  aristocracy  crowded  to  hear  Pvobert 
Hall  and  Chalmers,  though  neither  of  them  boasted  of  an- 
cestral honors  nor  possessed  prelatic  wealth.  The  ablest 
men  will  always  most  obtain  the  attentions  of  the  rich  and 
the  clever.  Nothing  can  atone  for  dullness.  Men  will 
not  be  taught  by  solemn  stupidity,  however  attractive  its 
accompaniments.  In  our  day  teachers  must  be  able  to 
teach.  But  whatever  may  be  the  influence  of  a  poorer 
body  of  pastors  on  the  richer  classes,  a  much  more  import- 
ant question  is.  What  is  likely  to  be  their  influence  on  the 
masses  ?  Ministers  are  appointed  by  Christ  to  save  men's 
souls  ;  and  that  is  the  best  system  which  is  calculated  not 
to  save  the  most  wealthy,  but  the  greatest  number.  Now, 
large  ecclesiastical  incomes,  by  exciting  the  cupidity  of  the 
multitude,  by  awakening  their  ready  suspicions  of  the  mo- 
tives which  have  led  their  pastors  to  choose  the  ministry, 
and  by  preventing  all  endearing  intimacy  between  their 
pastors  and  themselves,  render  rich  ministers  very  ineffect- 
ive among  the  poor.  The  fact  lies  open  to  any  one's  in- 
vestigation. Have  the  rectors  of  the  Establishment  as 
much  pastoral  intercourse  with  the  working  classes  as  dis- 
senting pastors  have  ?  If  it  be  said  that  ecclesiastical 
wealth,  though  not  requisite  to  give  a  pastor  influence  with 
the  people,  is  yet  necessary  to  secure  to  the  ministry  the 
talent  which  I  acknowledge  to  be  necessary,  I  deny  it  alto- 
gether. The  cost  of  education  and  the  partialities  of  pat- 
ronage now  exclude  young  men  of  ability  from  the  Anglican 
ministry,  however  rich  the  Establishment  may  be  ;  but 
free  churches,  although  much  poorer,  by  throwing  open  the 
most  important  spheres  of  action  to  men  of  the  highest 
qualifications,  attract  men  of  earnestness,  ability,  and  force 
of  character  from  every  class.  Have  the  parochial  clergy 
generally  as  much  popular  ability  as  the  pastors  of  free 
churches  ?  Whatever  may  be  the  reader's  answer  to  this 
question,  Robert  Hall,  Foster,  Pye  Smith,  Vaughan,  Ward- 


296        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

law,  Harris,  Sortain,  Davidson,  and  a  host  of  similar  men, 
show  that  without  baronial  titles  or  lordly  incomes  men  of 
talent  Avill  consecrate  their  faculties  to  the  service  of  the 
Redeemer  in  the  ministry. 

But  more  than  enough  has  been  said  on  this  subject. 
Since  Christ,  when  he  sent  out  his  disciples  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  said  to  them,  "  ZrO,  I  am  ivith  you  ahvay,  even  to 
the  etid  of  the  ivorld,'"  ^  to  suppose  that  faithful,  intelli- 
gent, and  laborious  ministers  will  not  be  maintained,  is  not 
merely  to  contradict  experience,  and  to  misrepresent  Chris- 
tians as  destitute  of  liberality,  zeal,  or  justice,  but  it  is  also 
to  disbelieve  his  care  and  love.  Since  he  is  with  those 
who  preach  the  Gospel,  he  will  certainly  take  care  of  them. 
God  has  said  to  each  faithful  minister,  as  he  said  to  the 
Mosaic  priest,  "  I  am  thy  i^art  and  thine  inheritance^'^ 
Rich  endowments  are  necessary  to  provide  for  a  worldly, 
idle,  and  worthless  priesthood,  because,  assuredly,  Chris- 
tians would  not  maintain  them,  but  to  zealous  ministers 
they  are  worse  than  superfluous.  All  the  disciples  of  Christ 
have  received  from  him  the  following  instructions  and  prom- 
ises :  "  Therefm-e  take  no  thought,  saying,  What  shall  %ve 
eat  ?  01-,  What  shall  tve  drink  ?  or.  Wherewithal  shall 
we  be  clothed  ?  (^for  after  all  these  things  do  the  Gentiles 
seek  .•)  fm-  your  heavenly  Father  knoiveth  that  ye  have 
need  of  all  these  things.  But  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  his  righteousness  ;  and  all  these  things  shall 
be  added  unto  you''  ^  If,  then,  all  believers  have  a  right, 
when  they  are  doing  their  duty,  to  trust  God  for  the  sup- 
ply of  their  temporal  wants,  surely  those  have  more  than 
all  others  permission  to  do  so,  who  have  renounced  the 
lucrative  secular  employments  which  they  might  have 
sought,  in  order  that  they  might  devote  themselves  to  the 
more  immediate  service  of  Christ.  But,  indeed,  so  little,  in 
the  opinion  of  some,  is  poverty  to  be  dreaded  by  the  minis- 
ters of  free  churches,  that  one  of  the  most  zealous  and  esti- 
mable advocates  of  the  Establishment  has  argued  the 
necessity  of  the  Union  with  a  view  to  restrain  their  wealth 
and  power.  "  Appealing,"  he  says,  "  to  the  strongest 
^  Matt,  xxviii.  20.       ^  Nu^b.  xviii.  20.       ^  Matt.  vi.  31-33. 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.    297 

affections  of  the  human  heart,  hope,  fear,  love,  conscience, 
gratitude,  generosity — representing  the  sacraments  of  the 
church  as  generally,  perhaps  tempted  to  say  absolutely, 
necessary  to  salvation,  and  themselves  as  the  only  persons 
by  whom  those  sacraments  can  be  administered,  it  is  be- 
yond all  question,  that  unless  subjected  to  some  regulating 
restriction  from  without,  the^j  ivill,  they  must,  in  process 
of  time,  and  from  the  bulk  of  inankind,  obtain  an  extrav- 
agant power  and  an  enormous  tvealth.  Thus  superstition 
will  give,  and  avarice  will  receive,  and  ambition  will  abuse 
until  all  other  authority  sinks  before  the  priesthood.  .  .  . 
A  State  endowment  for  the  supply  of  the  church  was  ren 
dered  unnecessary  (by  voluntary  zeal  in  the  days  of  Con 
stantine) ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  and  by  the  same  means 
a  State  enactment  for  the  restraint  of  the  church  was  ren- 
dered imperative  if  civil  liberty  was  to  be  maintained  on 
the  earth Some  such  enactment  is  a  matter  of  indis- 
pensable self-defense  on  the  part  of  the  civil  ruler  to  ward 
off  the  prostrating  power  of  the  clergy."  ^  So  that,  accord- 
ing to  this  zealous  advocate  of  the  Establishment,  the  min- 
isters of  free  churches  are  not  likely  to  be  too  poor,  but  too 
rich ;  and  the  Union  of  the  Anglican  Churches  Avith  the 
State  is  necessary  to  hinder  their  ministers  from  climbing 
to  "  extravagant  power,"  and  reveling  in  "  enormous 
wealth."  Free- church  ministers  are  likely  to  be  paid  too 
much  ;  but  the  ministers  of  the  Establishment  to  be  kept 
under  salutary  restraint.  "We  may  so  far  accept  this  argu- 
ment as  to  conclude,  that  free-church  ministers,  if  sensible 
and  faithful  men,  will  not  often  be  left  in  want. 


Section  IV. — Influence  of  the   Union  on  the  Doctrine 
taught  in  the  Anglican  Churches. 

The  Gospel  contained  in  the  Bible  is  of  absolute  neces- 
sity to  the  world.  By  the  knowledge  and  belief  of  it  men 
are  saved  from  eternal  death  ;  by  it  they  are  led  to  serve 
God,  and  all  the  highest  interests  of  the  world  are  insepa- 
rably associated  with  it.  As  soon  as  a  man  becomes  ac- 
'  M'Neile's  "Lectures  on  the  Church."  pp.  120,  121-126. 
N* 


298        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

quainted  with  it,  he  is  bound  to  maintain,  defend,  and  pro- 
mulgate it.  One  of  the  great  ends  of  the  existence  of 
churches  is,  that  they  may  maintain  its  doctrines  in  their 
purity,  and  use  their  combined  influence  to  diffuse  it 
throughout  society.  This  is,  likewise,  one  of  the  highest 
ends  sought  by  the  association  of  churches  into  great  con- 
federations such  as  the  Church  of  England,  and  the  union 
of  those  confederations  with  the  governments  of  Europe. 
Why  are  13,000  congregations  in  England,  and  their  pas- 
tors, marshaled  under  a  potent  hierarchy,  instead  of  each 
being  distinct  and  independent  ?  and  why  are  their  pastors 
maintained  by  the  government,  except  because  this  organi- 
zation and  State  maintenance  is  supposed  to  favor  the  dif- 
fusion of  sound  doctrine  through  the  land  ?  If,  then,  it 
should  appear  that  the  union  maintains  error  rather  than 
truth,  the  chief  reason  for  the  union  is  destroyed.  If  indi- 
vidual zeal  can  establish  greater  numbers  of  ministers,  dis- 
tribute them  more  wisely,  pay  them  better,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  be  a  better  preservative  to  the  purity  of  their 
doctrine,  then  the  union  should  cease. 

The  first  fact  with  which  we  meet  in  our  examination 
of  the  effects  of  the  union  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Anglican 
churches  is  that,  having  sactioned  various  errors  in  the 
prayer-book,  it  gives  them  currency  in  all  the  parishes  of 
the  land. 

When  our  Lord  appeared  to  his  disciples  after  his  resur- 
rection, he  breathed  on  them  and  said  to  them,  ''Receive 
ye  the  Holy  Ghost :  tvhosesoever-  sins  ye  remits  they  are  re- 
tnitted  unto  them  ;  and  ivhosesoever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are 
retained.'''  ^  In  these  words  he  secured  to  them  the  com- 
munication of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  whom  they  would  be 
inspired  to  declare,  with  unerring  certainty,  who  are  con- 
demned by  God,  and  who  are  pardoned.  This  was  no 
prayer  of  Christ,  but  an  authoritative  communication  of 
the  Spirit,  upon  which  the  power  to  remit  or  to  retain 
sins  was  consequent.  From  that  time  they  acted  upon 
that  commission  ;  and  with  divine  wisdom  and  with  unfal- 
tering authority  declared,  not  of  individuals,  but  of  classes 
^  John  XX.  22,  23. 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.     299 

and  of  characters,  who  were  forgiven  and  who  were  un for- 
given. But  as  they  could  not  convey  the  inspiration  to 
others,  they  never  pretended  to  convey  to  others  the  author- 
ity. In  exact  imitation  of  our  Lord,  the  bishop  chosen  by 
the  premier  as  a  good  schoolmaster,  a  clever  political  adhe- 
rent, a  safe  man  without  strong  opinions,  or  perhaps  as  a 
man  of  sense  and  piety,  must,  by  order  of  the  State,  lay 
his  hand  "  upon  the  head  of  every  one  that  receive th  the 
order  of  priesthood,  the  receivers  humbly  kneeling  upon 
their  knees,"  and  say,  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the 
office  and  work  of  a  priest  in  the  church  of  God,  now 
committed  unto  thee  by  this  imposition  of  our  hands. 
Whose  sins  thou  dost  forgive,  they  are  forgiven  ;  and  whose 
sins  thou  dost  retain,  they  are  retained."  When  a  deacon 
is  ordained,  the  bishop  uses  none  of  the  foregoing  words, 
but  says  merely,  "  Take  thou  authority  to  execute  the  office 
of  a  deacon  in  the  church  of  God  committed  to  thee." 
The  deacon  does  not  receive  the  Holy  Ghost  from  the 
bishop,  and  therefore  must  not  remit  sins,  nor  read  the 
absolution  in  the  public  service ;  but  the  priest  receives 
authority  to  remit  sins,  because  he  is  supposed  to  receive 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

There  is  little  difference  between  the  external  action  by 
which  Christ  communicated  the  Holy  Spirit  to  his  apostles, 
and  that  by  which  the  bishop,  nominated  by  the  prime 
minister,  is  supposed  to  communicate  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
the  Anglican  priest,  except  that  the  apostles  stood  to  re- 
ceive the  benediction  of  their  Lord,  but  the  priest  must 
kneel  to  the  prelate.  The  prelatic  words  are  no  prayer, 
because  Christ's  words  were  not  so — because  the  words  do 
not  express  a  prayer — because  had  they  been  a  prayer  the 
prelate  would  have  knelt  instead  of  standing  over  the 
kneeling  priest,  and  because  he  adds  immediately  to  the 
words  of  power  these  following  words,  "  A^Hiose  sins  thou 
dost  forgive  they  are  forgiven."  Each  Anglican  priest  or- 
dained by  each  nominee  of  the  government  is  thus  stated 
by  the  prayer-book  to  receive  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the 
power  of  remitting  sins.  The  power  communicated  by  the 
Almighty  Saviour  to  his  apostles  through  the  gift  of  inspi- 


300        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

ration,  and  which  they  had  neither  authority  nor  power  to 
convey  to  any  other  persons,  is  thus  stated  by  the  prayer- 
book  to  be  given  by  all  prelates,  converted  or  unconverted, 
to  all  priests,  converted  or  unconverted,  Anglo-Catholics, 
sportsmen,  fellows  of  colleges,  agriculturists,  ordained  squires, 
and  all  others  who  form  the  immense  assemblage  of  the 
Anglican  clergy.  In  the  opinion  of  Bishop  Wilberforce, 
"All  this  is  blasphemous  frivolity,  if  it  be  not  deepest 
truth."  ^  It  being,  therefore,  assuredly  untrue  that  all 
sorts  of  prelates  communicate  the  Spirit  to  all  sorts  of  An- 
glican clergj'men,  it  is,  according  to  the  bishop,  blasphe- 
mous ;  and  this  blasphemy  the  union  by  its  prayer-book 
teaches  to  all  the  Anglican  Chm-ches,  and  compels  all  the 
clerg}'-  to  declare  that  it  is  neither  superstitious,  nor  ungodly, 
nor  contrary  to  the  word  of  God.^ 

As  we  have  received  a  revelation  from  God,  each  believer 
is  bound  to  study  it,  ascertain  its  meaning,  and  adhere  to 
it.  He  ought,  indeed,  to  distrust  his  own  judgment,  to 
weigh  the  opinions  of  the  wise  and  good,  to  obtain  every 
help,  to  pray,  to  meditate,  to  wait ;  but  eventually  to  let 
no  one  intervene  between  God  and  him,  and  to  maintain 
no  doctrine  which  he  does  not  see  to  be  true  from  the  word 
of  God.      Paul's  direction  is,    ''Let  every  man  he  fully 

'persuaded  in  his  mon  mind Whatsoever  is  not  of 

faith  is  siny  ^  James  adds,  "  If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom, 
let  him  ask  of  God  that  giveth  to  all  men  liherally  and 
upbraideth  tvot,  and  it  shall  he  given  him''' ^  Each  be- 
liever is  taught  by  the  Spirit.  God  has  given  this  promise 
to  the  church  :  "■All  thy  children  shall  he  taught  of  the 
Lord.''  ^  Our  Lord  has  himself  assured  us  that  our 
heavenly  Father  will  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  those  that 
ask  him.^  And  according  to  these  and  similar  promises 
all  behevers  now  may  be  addressed  as  the  first  Christians 
were  by  the  Apostle  John,  "Ye  have  an  U7iction from  the 

Holy  One,  and  ye  know  all  things The  anxyinting 

which  ye  have  received  of  hvtn  ahideth  in  you ;  and  ye 

^  Sermon  at  the  Ordination,  1845,  p.  24.          ^  ^^^  35^  ^^n.  36- 
.    ^  Rom.  xiv.  5,  23.  ^  James  i.  5. 

^  Isaiah  liv.  13  ^  Luke  xi.  13. 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.    301 

need  not  that  any  man  teach  you ;  hut  the  same  anointing 
teacheth  you  all  things.''  ^  Each  Christian,  therefore,  may 
obtain  wisdom  in  proportion  to  his  study,  meditation,  piety, 
and  prayer.  And  so  may  a  church,  which  is  a  company 
of  Christians  ;  but,  as  individual  Christians  err,  so  do 
churches.  The  church  of  Antioch  erred  ;  ^  the  churches  of 
Galatia  erred  ;  ^  the  churches  of  Greece  have  erred  ;  and 
the  churches  in  connection  with  the  Church  of  Rome, 
scattered  throughout  the  world,  have  erred  more  grievously 
still.  If  the  episcopacy  of  the  Church  of  England  is  right, 
the  churches  of  Scotland  have  erred.  If  the  Congregational 
system  of  the  English  free  churches  is  right,  the  Anglican 
Churches  have  erred.  If  the  Baptists  are  right,  the  Inde- 
pendent churches  of  England  have  erred.  When  a  church 
errs,  a  believer  must  disregard  the  false  opinion  of  the 
church,  and  follow  the  teaching  of  the  word  of  God.  No 
church  has  received  authority  to  direct  the  faith  of  its 
members,  for  each  ought  to  be  taught  of  God  through  his 
word.  If  any  church  has  received  such  authority  all 
churches  must  have  received  it,  for  Scripture  has  not  any 
where  assigned  different  degrees  of  authority  to  different 
churches.  Opposing  churches  on  this  hypothesis  must 
have  received  authority  from  Christ  to  impose  upon  their 
members  the  various  errors  into  which  they  have  fallen. 
Believers  at  Antioch  and  in  Galatia  were  bound,  on  this 
supposition,  to  oppose  St.  Paul ;  and  Homan  Catholics 
may  not  question  the  tenets  held  in  their  churches.  There 
can  not,  therefore,  be  any  such  church  authority,  nor  is 
there.  Not  a  single  line  in  the  New  Testament,  from 
Matthew  to  Revelation,  gives  any  church  such  authority, 
either  directly  or  by  implication.  And  yet,  the  union,  by 
its  prayer-book,  teaches  as  follows  :  "  The  church  hath  power 
to  decree  rites  or  ceremonies,  and  authority  in  controversies 
of  faith  r '^  On  this  article,  Dr.  Hey,  after  most  unwar- 
rantably asserting  that  authority  means  influence,  comments 
thus  :  "  You  are  not  expected  to  give  up  your  judgment  to 
the  judgment  of  the  church  except  on  doubtful  and  difficult 

■  ^  1  John  ii.  20,  27.  ^  Gal.  ii.  11,  13. 

^  Gal.  i.  6;  iji.  1.  *  Art.  20. 


302        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

points.''  ^  On  doubtful  and  difficult  points,  then,  we  are  to 
give  up  our  judgment  to  the  judgment  of  the  church.  If  we 
believe  Scripture  to  teach  one  thing  and  the  church  declare  it 
to  teach  another  thing,  we  are  to  disregard  what  the  word 
of  God  seems  to  establish  because  the  church  denies  it,  and 
to  maintain  what  the  word  of  God  seems  to  us  to  condemn 
because  the  church  maintains  it.  But  to  what  church  has 
Christ  given  this  dominion  over  our  creed  ?  To  the  Church 
of  England  ?  Impossible.  There  is  no  such  body  described 
in  Scripture — nothing  approaching  to  it.  Whatever  is 
ascribed  to  the  church  in  Scripture  is  not  ascribed  to  it, 
but  to  something  quite  different.  Which  church  in  the 
New  Testament  in  the  least  resembled  the  Church  of 
England,  formed  as  it  is  of  13,154  churches?  In  the 
New  Testament  there  is  only  one  universal  church  de- 
scribed, composed  of  all  the  true  followers  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  a  multitude  of  local  churches — the  universal  company 
of  believers  who  will  assemble  in  heaven,  and  the  assembly 
of  professed  believers  who  assemble  at  any  place  on  earth. 
Which  of  these  churches  has  this  authority  to  control  the 
faith  of  each  Christian  ?  The  universal  church  ?  But 
how  shall  we  get  its  mind  "  in  doubtful  and  difficult  points  ?" 
The  disputants  are  all  within  it.  Episcopalians  and  Pres- 
byterians, Calvinists  and  Arminians,  Baptists  and  Peedo- 
baptists — they  are  all  within  it.  Each  thinks  he  is  right. 
Whence  is  the  deciding  voice  of  the  universal  church  to 
issue  ?  But  since  the  universal  church  can  not  be  meant, 
we  must  come  to  the  local  church  as  the  seat  of  authority 
— any  English  church,  for  instance,  like  the  church  at 
Philippi  or  the  church  at  Thessalonica.  So  then,  "  in 
doubtful  and  difficult  points"  a  pious  minister,  or  a  thought- 
ful and  experienced  Christian,  is  to  give  up  his  judgment  of 
the  meaning  of  the  word  of  God,  because  a  few  poor  villagers 
who  worship  with  him  have  an  opposite  opinion  !  The 
idea  is  absurd.  No  church,  then,  has  this  authority  ;  and 
yet  the  union  declares,  by  the  prayer-book,  that  the  church 
has  it,  and  compels  each  Anglican  minister  to  maintain 

^  Lectures  on  Divinity,  by   J.  Hey,   D.D.,  Norisian   Professor, 
Cambridge. 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.     303 

that  this  declaration  of  the  prayer-book  is  agreeable  to  the 
word  of  God. 

The  qualifications  of  a  pastor  appointed  by  Christ's 
authority — the  only  pastor  which  any  church  may  law- 
fully receive — are  thus  described  by  an  apostle  :  "JL  bishop 
(that  is,  the  pastor  of  a  church)  must  be  blameless,  sober, 
of  good  behavior  ....  apt  to  teach,  owt  given  to  wine 
....  not  covetous,  not  a  novice  ;  ^  ^  .  .  .  a  lover  of  good 
men,  sober,  just,  holy,  temperate,  Iwldingfast  the  faithful 
wordr'^  If  any  preacher  who  was  unevangelical  came 
to  any  place,  the  Christians  were  forbidden  to  receive  him 
as  a  teacher  into  their  houses.'  Paul  desired  that  all 
such  might  be  excommunicated,*  and  declared  them  to  be 
ministers  of  Satan  under  the  guise  of  angels  of  light. ^ 
And  respecting  all  teachers  of  ungodly  character,  however 
plausible  their  pretensions  to  be  Christ's  ministers  might 
seem,  our  Lord  himself  said,  "■Beware  of  false  prophets 
which  come  to  you  in  sheep's  clothing,  but  imvardly  they 
are  ravening  ivolves:  ye  shall  knoiv  them  by  their  fruits  "^ 
Could  our  Lord  more  plainly  caution  his  disciples  against 
listening  to  bad  ministers  because  they  are  regularly  or- 
dained ?  What  is  the  sheep's  clothing  but  a  plausible 
claim  to  be  ministers  of  Christ  ?  And  what  is  the  wolfish 
heart  but  the  ungodliness  which  makes  unconverted  minis- 
ters the  worst  and  most  dangerous  enemies  of  their  people  ? 
Of  such  our  Lord  says  all  Christians  should  beware.  But, 
in  opposition  to  these  passages  of  Scripture,  the  twenty-sixth 
article  declares  :  "  Although  in  the  visible  church  the  evil 
be  ever  mingled  with  good,  and  sometimes  the  evil  have 
chief  authority  in  the  ministration  of  the  word  and  sacra- 
ments, yet  forasmuch  as  they  do  not  the  same  in  their  own 
name,  but  in  Christ's,  and  do  ministePv.  by  his  commission 

AND   AUTHORITY,    WE   MAY   USE    THEIR   MINISTRY,   both    in   the 

hearing  the  word  and  receiving  of  the  sacraments."  Open- 
ly vidcked  ministers,  who  by  Christ's  authority  ought  to  be 
ixcommunicated,''  are  said  to  "  minister  by  his  authority  ;" 

1  1  Tim.  iii.  2-6.  ^  Tit.  i.  5-9.  ^  2  John  9-11. 

4  Gal.  i.  8;  V.  12.  ^  2  Cor.  xi.  3-15.      ^  Matt.vii.  15,  16. 

'  1  Cor.  V.  1-13;   2  John  9-11  ;  Gal.  v.  12. 


304        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

and  when  Christ  commanded  his  disciples  to  heware  of 
them,  when  St.  John  forhade  all  association  with  them, 
and  St.  Pau-1  urged  their  excommunication,  it  is  here  said 
that  "we  may  use  their  ministry."  Of  this  doctrinal  de- 
cision the  twenty -eighth  canon  makes  the  following  practi- 
cal application  :  "  The  churchwardens,  or  questmen,  and 
their  assistants,  shall  mark,  as  well  as  the  minister,  whether 
all  and  every  of  the  parishioners  came  so  often  every  year 
to  the  holy  communion  as  the  laws  and  our  constitutions 
do  require  ;  and  whether  any  strangers  come  often  and 
commonly  from  other  parishes  to  their  church  :  and  shall 
show  their  minister  of  them,  lest,  perhaps,  they  be  admitted 
to  the  Lord's  table  among  others,  which  they  shall  forbid, 
and  remit  such  home  to  their  own  parish-churches  and 
ministers,  there  to  receive  the  communion  with  the  rest  of 
their  neighbors." 

The  article  teaches  that  Christians  should  adhere  to 
their  parish  clergyman,  although  he  may  be  openly  ungod- 
ly, against  the  plain  directions  of  the  New  Testament ;  and 
the  union  comjjels  all  Ajiglican  ministers,  to  declare  that 
this  is  agreeable  to  the  wo?cl  of  God} 

We  find  in  the  New  Testament  that  baptism  is  a  pro- 
fession of  faith  in  Christ.^  Repentance  and  faith  were 
always,  in  the  apostolic  churches,  required  in  those  who 
were  admitted  to  baptism.  By  faith  they  became  disciples 
of  Christ ;  and  then,  by  baptism,  professed  to  be  his  disci- 
ples, and  were  united  to  his  churches.  They  were  first 
regenerated  by  the  Spirit,  and  then  received  the  sign  of 
their  regeneration.  Baptism  was  always  administered  to 
those  who  were  believed  to  be  regenerate,  never  to  the  un- 
regenerate  with  a  view  to  their  regeneration.  It  was  the 
uniform  of  Christ  put  upon  those  who  had  enlisted  as  his 
soldiers  ;  it  was  the  admission  into  the  local  church  of 
those  who  had  previously  become,  by  faith,  members  of  the 
universal  church.  But  the  prayer-book  teaches  that  bap- 
tism regenerates  ;   and,  requiring  the  Anghcan  ministers  to 

^   Canon  36. 

-  See  Matt,  xxviii.  19;  Mark  xvi.  15,  16;  Acts  ii.  38;  viii.  12, 
36,  37;  ix.  17;  X.  -^4-48;  xvi.  14,  31  ;  xviii.  8;  Eph.  iv.  5,  &c 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.    305 

baptize  all  the  children  of  the  country,  declares  of  these 
millions  of  children  baptized  in  all  the  parishes  of  England 
and  Wales,  that  they  are  regenerated  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
By  canon  sixty-eight,  "  No  minister  shall  refuse  or  delay 
to  christen  any  child,  according  to  the  form  of  the  book  of 
common  prayer,  that  is  brought  to  the  church  to  him  upon 
Sundays  or  holydays  to  be  christened  .  .  .  And  if  he  shall 
refuse  to  christen,  ...  he  shall  be  suspended  by  the  bishop 
of  the  diocese  from  his  ministry  by  the  space  of  three 
raionths."  Almost  all  the  children,  therefore,  of  country 
parishes,  and  myriads  of  the  children  of  populous  city  par- 
ishes, of  all  sorts  of  parents,  are  brought  to  be  "christened." 
The  effect  of  their  baptism  is  thus  described  in  the 
twenty-seventh  article,  "  Baptism  is  not  only  a  sign  of  pro- 
fession, and  mark  of  difference,  whereby  Christian  men  are 
discerned  from  others  that  be  not  christened,  but  it  is  also 
a  sign  of  regeneration  or  new  birth,  ivherebij,  as  by  an 
instrument,  they  that  receive  bai^tism  rightly  are  grafted 
into  the  church,''^  Sec. 

It  is  here  first  asserted,  that  baptism  is  a  sign  of  regen- 
eration, but  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  church,  sacra- 
mental signs  are  effectual,  as  we  learn  from  the  following 
question  and  answer  in  the  catechism  : — "  Q.  What  mean- 
est thou  by  this  word  sacrament  ?  A.  I  mean  an  outward 
and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace  given  unto 
us,  ordained  by  Christ  himself,  as  a  means  whereby  ive 
receive  the  same,  and  a  pledge  to  assure  us  thereof.''  And 
therefore  the  twenty-fifth  article  calls  the  sacraments  "  ef- 
fectual signs  of  grace."  Since,  therefore,  baptism  is  an 
effectual  sign  of  regeneration,  it  regenerates.  Secondly, 
"  By  it,  as  by  an  instrument,  those  who  receive  baptism 
rightly  are  grafted  into  the  church."  Now  all  who  re- 
ceive baptism,  whether  they  receive  it  rightly  or  not,  become 
members  of  the  local  church.  The  admission  into  the 
church,  therefore,  which  is  restricted  to  worthy  recipients, 
must  mean  a  spiritual  admission  into  the  church  of  Christ, 
following  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  is  expressed  in  the 
following  prayer  for  a  child  before  baptism  :  "  Wash  him 
and  sanctify  him  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  he,  being  deliv- 


306       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

ered  from  thy  wrath,  may  be  received  into  the  ark  of  Christ's 
church."  And  since  baptism  is  the  instrument  by  wliich 
infants  are  thus  grafted  into  the  church,  it  is  the  instrument 
by  which  they  are  regenerated.  Both  Bishop  Burnet  and 
Dr.  Hey  agree  in  this  view  of  the  doctrine  of  the  articles. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  article  the  bishop  says,  "  A  sacra- 
ment is  an  institution  of  Christ,  in  which  some  material 
thing  is  sanctified  by  the  use  of  some  form  of  words,  in  and 
by  which  federal  acts  of  this  religion  do  pass  on  both  sides ; 
on  ours,  by  stipulations,  professions,  or  vows ;  and  on  God's, 
by  his  secret  assistance :  by  these  we  are  also  united  to 
the  body  of  Christ,  which  is  the  church  .  .  .  Federal  acts, 
to  which  divine  grace  is  tied,  can  only  be  instituted  by 
him.  .  .  .  The  rites,  therefore,  that  we  understand,  when 
we  speak  of  sacraments,  are  the  constant  federal  rites  of 
Christians,  which  are  accompanied  by  divi7ie  grace  and 
benediction,  being  instituted  by  Christ  to  unite  us  to  him 
and  to  his  chureh."  On  the  twenty-seventh,  he  continues, 
"  As  for  the  ends  and  purposes  of  baptism,  St.  Paul  gives 
us  two  :  The  one  is,  we  are  admitted  to  the  society  of 
Christians.  .  .  .  But  a  second  end  is  internal  and  spiritual. 
Of  this  St.  Paul  speaks  in  very  high  terms,  when  he  says, 
that  God  has  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration 
and  reneiving  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  .  .  .  Here  then  is  the 
inward  effect  of  baptism.  It  is  a  death  to  sin,  and  a 
neio  life  in  Christ,  in  imitation  of  him,  and  in  conformity 
to  his  Gospel.  .  .  .  There  is  something  in  it  which  is  inter- 
nal which  comes  from  God  ;  it  is  an  admitting  men  into 
somewhat  which  depends  only  on  God."  ^ 

Dr.  Hey  is  more  explicit  than  the  bishop.  On  the 
twenty-fifth  he  remarks,  "  We  must  not  deny  that  sacra- 
ments give  grace,  ex  opere  operato.''  On  the  twenty- 
seventh,  he  adds,  baptism  '•'  is  also  a  sign  of  regeneration, 
.  .  .  whereby,  ^?er  quod,  by  which  sign,  the  promises  of 
God  are  sealed,  &c.,  or  in  one  word,  regeneration  is  enact- 
ed, executed,  and  sealed.  The  particulars  which  follow 
seem  to  be  component  parts  of  regeneration."  ^ 

^  Burnet  on  the  Thirty-nine  Articles.     Art.  25,  27. 
'^  Key's  Lectures  on  Divinity.     Art.  25,  27. 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.    307 

The  language  of  the  prayer-book,  in  many  places,  pain- 
fully confirms  this  false  doctrine  of  the  articles,  and  teaches 
that  both  children  and  adults  are  regenerated  by  the  Spirit 
through  baptism. 

When  any  child  is  brought  by  its  sponsors  to  the  parish 
minister  to  be  baptized,  the  minister  is  compelled  by  the 
State  to  pray  thus  :  "  Almighty  God,  ...  we  call  upon 
thee  for  this  infant,  that  he,  coming  to  thy  holy  baptism, 
may  receive  remission  of  sins  by  spiritual  regeneration. 
Receive  him,  O  Lord,  as  thou  hast  promised  by  thy  well- 
beloved  Son,  saying.  Ask  and  ye  shall  have."  He  then 
continues,  to  the  sponsors,  not  to  the  parents,  "  Dearly  be- 
loved, ye  have  brought  this  child  here  to  be  baptized,  ye 
have  prayed  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  would  vouchsafe 
to  receive  him,  to  release  him  of  his  sins,  to  sanctify  him 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  give  him  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
and  everlasting  life.  Ye  have  heard  also  that  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  hath  promised  in  his  Gospel  to  grant  all  these 
things  that  ye  have  prayed  for  ;  which  promise,  he,  for  his 
part,  will  most  surely  keep  and  perform."  ^  After  this,  by 
the  Act  of  Uniformity  he  prays  thus  :  "  Almighty  God, 
sanctify  this  water  to  the  mystical  washing  away  of  sin  ; 
and  grant  that  this  child,  now  to  be  baptized  therein,  may 
receive  the  fullness  of  thy  grace,  and  ever  remain  in  the 
niunber  of  thy  faithful  and  elect  children."  This  d-one, 
the  State  enjoins  that  the  minister  continue  as  follows  : — 
"  Seeing  now  .  .  .  that  this  child  is  regenerate,  and  grafted 
into  the  body  of  Christ's  church,  let  us  give  thanks  to  Al- 
mighty God  for  these  benefits."  "  We  yield  thee  hearty 
thanks,  most  merciful  Father,  that  it  Imth  'pleased  thee 
to  regenerate  this  infant  with  thy  Holy  Spirit,  to  receive 
him  for  thine  own  child  by  adoption,  and  to  incorporate 
him  into  thy  holy  church''  The  prayer-book  adds  :  "It 
is  certain  by  God's  word,  that  children  which  are  baptized, 
dying  before  they  commit  actual  sm,  are  undoubtedly  saved." 
Not  a  word  is  said  in  Scripture,  clearly  and  exphcitly,  about 

1  A  manifestly  false  application  of  the  promise,  otherwise  every 
baptized  child  would  be  regenerate,  and  Christians  would  be  bound 
similarly  to  regenerate  all  the  world. 


308       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

the  baptism  of  infants  ;  but  the  prayer-book  rules  it,  that 
their  baptism  so  certainly  regenerates  them  that  whatever 
happens  to  other  infants  they  must  be  saved. 

No  less  distinctly  does  the  prayer-book  teach,  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  word  of  God,  that  baptism  regenerates  adults 
likewise,  as  is  too  apparent  in  the  following  passages  from 
the  form  of  baptism  for  such  as  are  of  riper  years  : 

"  Dearly  beloved,  forasmuch  as  .  .  .  our  Saviour  Christ 
saith.  None  can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  except  he 
be  regenerate  and  born  anew  of  water  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  I  beseech  you  to  call  upon  God  .  .  .  that  he  will 
grant  to  these  persons  .  .  .  that  they  may  be  baptized  with 
water  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  received  into  Christ's 
holy  church." 

"  Almighty  and  everlasting  God,  .  .  .  mercifully  look 
upon  these  thy  servants,  wash  them  and  sanctify  them 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  they,  being  delivered  from  thy 
wrath,  may  be  received  into  the  ark  of  Christ's  church." 

"  We  call  upon  thee  for  these  persons,  that  they,  coming 
to  thy  holy  baptism,  may  receive  remission  of  their  sins  by 
spiritual  regeneration." 

"  Give  thy  Holy  Spirit  to  these  persons,  that  they  may 
be  born  again,  and  be  made  heirs  of  everlasting  salva- 
tion." 

"  Sanctify  this  water  to  the  mystical  washing  away  of 
sin,  and  grant  that  the  persons  now  to  be  baptized  therein 
may  receive  the  fullness  of  thy  grace,  and  ever  remain  in 
the  number  of  thy  faithful  and  elect  children." 

They  are  then  baptized  ;  and  the  minister  adds,  "  Seeing 
now,  dearly  beloved  brethren,  that  these  persons  are  regen- 
erate and  grafted  into  the  body  of  Christ's  church,  let  us 
give  thanks  unto  Almighty  God  for  these  benefits."  So 
that,  like  the  infants,  these  adults  come  to  the  font  to  be 
regenerated. 

The  Anglican  child  being  thus  spiritually  regenerated 
by  baptism,  has  next  to  be  instructed  in  the  truth  by  the 
catechism,  which  begins  by  reminding  him  that  he  has  been 
thus  regenerated,  in  the  following  terms  :  "  Who  gave  you 
this  name  ?    My  godfathers  and  godmothers  in  my  baptism, 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.    309 

wherein  I  was  made  a  member  of  Christ,  the  child  of  God, 
and  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

Being  thus  regenerate  through  baptism,  and  assured  of 
his  regeneration  by  the  catechism,  the  AngHcan  child  is 
now  brought  to  confirmation.  The  directions  of  the  minis- 
ter to  the  sponsors  at  the  baptism,  by  order  of  the  State, 
were,  <'  Ye  are  to  take  care  that  this  child  be  brought  to 
the  bishop  to  be  confirmed  by  him,  so  soon  as  he  can  say 
the  creed,  the  Lord's  prayer,  and  the  ten  commandments 
in  the  vulgar  tongue,  and  be  further  instructed  in  the 
church  catechism  set  forth  for  that  purpose."  The  prayer- 
book,  therefore,  further  directs  thus  :  "So  soon  as  children 
are  come  to  a  competent  age,  and  can  say  in  their  mother 
tongue  the  creed,  the  Lord's  prayer,  and  the  ten  command- 
ments, and  also  can  answer  to  the  other  questions  of  this 
short  catechism,  they  shall  be  brought  to  the  bishop  ;  and 
every  one  shall  have  a  godfather,  or  a  godmother,  as  a 
witness  of  their  confirmation."  Li  pursuance  of  these 
orders  all  the  children  of  the  parish  learn  the  catechism, 
and  then  come  to  be  confirmed  ;  upon  which  the  bishop  is 
compelled  by  the  State  to  say,  "  Almighty  and  ever-living 
God,  who  hast  vouchsafed  to  regenerate  these  thy  servants" 
(all  the  baptized  children  of  the  parish  who  can  say  the 
catechism  and  renew  the  vows),  "  by  water  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  hast  given  unto  them  forgiveness  of  all  their 
sins,  strengthen  them,  we  beseech  thee,"  &c. 

All  the  parish  children  being  thus  regenerated  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  therefore  all  the  parishioners,  who  were 
once  children,  being  also  regenerate,  the  minister,  at  the 
death  of  each;  is  compelled  by  the  union  to  bury  him,  un- 
less the  party  deceased  died  excommunicated  ;  and  what- 
ever was  his  previous  ungodliness  up  to  his  last  moments, 
he  is  forced  to  speak  thus  at  his  grave  :  "  Forasmuch  as  it 
hath  pleased  Almighty  God  of  his  great  mercy  to  take 
unto  himself  the  soul  of  our  dear  brother  here  departed,  we 
commit  his  body  to  the  ground  ...  in  sure  and  certain  hope 
of  the  resurrection  to  eternal  life."  "  Almighty  God,  we 
give  thee  hearty  thanks  for  that  it  hath  pleased  thee  to  de- 
liver this  our  brother  out  of  the  miseries  of  this  sinful  world." 


310         INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

I  once  labored  hard  to  convince  myself  that  our  Re- 
formers did  not  and  could  not  mean  that  infants  are  regen- 
erated by  baptism,  but  no  reasoning  avails.  This  language 
is  too  plain.  Although  the  catechism  declares  that  repent- 
ance and  faith  are  prerequisites  to  baptism,  yet  the  prayer- 
book  assumes  clearly,  that  both  adults  and  infants  come  to 
the  font  unregenerate  and  leave  it  regenerate  ;  that  worthy 
recipients  of  baptism  are  not  regenerate  before  baptism, 
but  come  to  be  regenerated  ;  that  they  are  luipardoned  up 
to  the  moment  of  baptism,^  that  they  are  pardoned  the  mo- 

^  The  Bishop  of  Worcester  has,  in  his  recent  charge,  coirectly 
stated  the  doctrine  of  the  church  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  Conceiving,  as  I  do,  that  the  articles  of  our  church  are  the 
principal  authority  to  which  we  ought  to  appeal  in  attempting  to 
settle  any  controverted  point,  we  will,  in  the  first  instance,  refer  to 
the  twenty-seventh  article  upon  this  subject.  We  find  there  bap- 
tism described  as  '  not  only  a  sign  of  profession  and  mark  of  differ- 
ence, whereby  Christian  men  are  discerned  from  others  that  be  not 
christened,  but  also  as  a  sign  of  regeneration,  or  new^  birth.'  This 
article,  therefore,  declares  that  regeneration,  or  new  birth,  is  con- 
ferred at  baptism,  of  which  the  ablution  in  water  is  the  acknowledged 
sign.  Now,  it  is  impossible,  in  my  opinion,  to  estimate  justly  the 
full  effect  of  this  article  without  taking  into  consideration,  at  the 
same  time,  the  import  of  the  ninth  article  on  original  sin.  We, 
therefore,  find  it  laid  down  as  the  docti'ine  of  our  Church,  that 
'  every  person  born  into  the  woi-ld  deserveth  God's  wrath  and 
damnation.'  It  does  not  fall  within  my  purpose,  on  the  present 
occasion,  to  discuss  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  or  how  far  it  may 
be  founded  upon  those  words  of  the  apostle,  that  '  by  the  ofTense  of 
one  judgment  came  upon  all  men  to  condemnation.'  Suffice  it  that 
such  a  doctrine  is  broadly  laid  down  in  the  ninth  article,  and  must 
therefore  be  acknowledged  by  all  who  have  subscribed  that  article 
as  the  doctrine  of  our  church.  In  the  case,  then,  of  infant-baptism, 
the  effect  of  baptismal  regeneration  is  to  relieve  infants  baptized  from 
this  state  of  condemnation,  and  to  confer  upon  them  a  new  birth  unto 
righteousness,  '  for,  being  by  nature  born  in  sin  the  children  of  wrath, 
they  are  thereby  made  the  children  of  grace.'  These  are  the  words 
of  our  'catechism,'  which  seem  distinctly  to  imply  the  doctrine  of 
baptismal  regeneration,  and  they  are  further  confirmed  by  the  prayers 
directed  to  be  used  in  both  the  baptismal  and  confirmation  services. 
In  the  former,  we  call  upon  God  to  grant  that  the  infant  to  be  baptized 
'  may  receive  remission  of  his  sins  by  spiritual  regeneration,  that  he 
may  be  born  again  and  made  an  heir  of  everlasting  salvation;'  and, 
after  the  sacrament  of  baptism  has  been  administered,  we  offer  up 
our  thanks  to  God  '  that  it  hath  pleased  him  to  regenerate  this  infant 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.  311 

ment  after.  This  unscriptural  doctrine  of  the  prayer-hook, 
as  its  other  errors,  each  evangelical  minister  of  the  Church 

with  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  to  receive  him  for  his  own  child  by  adop- 
tion.' And  in  the  service  for  confirmation,  which  must  be  consider- 
ed supplemental  to  that  of  baptism,  we  speak  of  those  who  attend  to 
renew  the  solemn  vows  and  promises  made  in  their  names  at  their 
baptism  as  'regenerated  by  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost.'  It  seems 
impossible,  in  the  face  of  the  articles  of  our  church,  and  of  the  above 
expressions  directed  to  be  used  in  the  '  catechism'  and  the  services 
for  baptism  and  confirmation,  to  deny  that  the  doctrine  of  baptismal 
regenei-ation  is  distinctly  the  doctrine  of  our  church." — Record^ 
Thursday,  Sept.  14th,  1848. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  has  given  his  view  of  the  doctrine  in  the 
following  terms : — 

''  Those  who  were  the  advocates  of  the  doctrine  of  baptismal 
regeneration  held,  that  in  that  ceremony  man  was  first  introduced  to 
his  God;  and  that  the  guilt  of  his  fallen  nature  was  done  away; 
and  that  there  would  be  continued  to  him,  unless  he  were  a  repro- 
bate, the  continual  influxes  of  grace,  which  would  lead  him  to  salva- 
tion."— Charge  of  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  Record,  October  9th,  1848. 

"  Q.   What  is  required  of  persons  to  be  baptized  ? 

".4.  Repentance  whereby  they  forsak'e  sin,  and  faith  whereby 
they  steadfastly  believe,  &c.,  &c." — Church  Catechisrn. 

The  bishop,  therefore,  believes  that  repentance  and  faith,  which 
are  preliminaries  to  baptism,  do  not  "  introduce  a  man  to  his  God." 
A  repentant  believer  remains  still  a  stranger  to  God  with  the  guilt 
of  original  sin  remaining  on  him  till  he  is  "  introduced  to  his  God" 
Ijy  baptism ;  he  has  then  "  an  influx  of  grace  ;"  he  repented  with- 
out grace,  and  he  believed  without  grace,  but  as  soon  as  he  was 
baptized  the  influx  came.  Yet,  after  repentance,  faith,  and  the 
baptismal  influx  of  grace,  he  may  be  a  reprobate  still ;  for  "  there 
would  be  continued  to  him  the  continual  influxes  of  grace  unless  he 
were  a  reprobate.^''  If  he  become  a  reprobate  under  the  influxes  of 
grace,  it  seems  that  they  cease  ;  but  of  what  use  they  were  to  him 
does  not  appeal',  since  under  their  influence  he  grew  to  be  a  repro- 
bate. And  how  is  this  to  be  understood  of  the  infant?  The  infant 
is  not  a  reprobate,  and  therefore  receives  "  continual  influxes  of 
grace;"  how  long  does  this  continue?  Six  years,  perhaps,  the 
child  receives  these  influxes ;  at  seven  he  becomes  a  reprobate,  and 
all  the  influxes  are  withdrawn.  Astonishing  that  six  years  of  grace 
should  make  a  child  a  reprobate  in  his  seventh  year,  or  ten  years  of 
grace  make  a  child  a  reprobate  in  his  eleventh  year  ;  or  any  number 
of  years  of  enlightening  and  sanctifying  grace  of  God  end  in  repro- 
bation !  This  may  be  the  doctrine  of  the  church,  but  where  does 
the  word  of  God  say  all  this? — See  Mark  xvi.  16;  Acts  viii.  37; 
John  iii.  16,  36;  Acts  xvi.  30,  31;  Rom.  iii.  28;  Gal.  iii.  26  i 
Rom.  viii.  30;  2  Thess.  ii.  13,  14  ;   1  Pet,  i.  3-5. 


312        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

of  England  is  compelled,  by  the  thirty-sixth  canon,  to  pro- 
nounce not  contrary  to  the  word  of  God  ;  and  by  the  Act 
of  Uniformity,  he  must  make  himself  a  party  to  all  this 
delusive  instruction  every  time  that  he  baptizes  an  infant 
or  an  adult,  teaches  the  children  of  his  parish  the  church 
catechism,  or  buries  the  corpse  of  an  ungodly  parishioner. 

The  foregoing  errors  are  thus  perpetuated  in  the  Angli- 
can Churches.  No  man  can  become  a  minister  of  the 
Establishment  without  making  the  following  profession  : 
"  I,  A.  B.,  do  hereby  declare  my  unfeigned  assent  and  con- 
sent  to  all  and  every  thing  contained  and  prescribed  in  and 
by  the  book  intituled' the  book  of  common  prayer,"  &c.,  &c. 

He  must,  likewise,  subscribe  to. the  three  following  arti- 
cles: 1.  "That  the  queen's  majesty,  under  God,  is  the 
only  supreme  governor  of  this  realm,  ...  as  well  in  all 
SPIRITUAL  OR  ECCLESIASTICAL  THINGS  or  causcs  as  tempo- 
ral." 2.  "  That  the  book  of  common  prayer,  and  of  order- 
ing of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  containeth  in  it  nothing 
contrary  to  the  word  of  God."  3.  "  That  he  acknowledges 
all  and  every  the  articles,  being  in  number  thirty-nine,  to 
be  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God." 

His  form  of  subscription  is  as  follows  :  "  I,  iV.  iV.  do 
willingly  and  ex  animo  subscribe  to  these  three  articles 
above-mentioned,  and  to  all  things  contained  in  them." 
Thus,  whatever  errors  there  may  be  in  the  prayer-book, 
each  Anglican  minister  is  forced  to  hide  them  from  his 
sight,  because  he  has  declared  the  book  to  be  throughout 
agreeable  to  the  word  of  God.  But,  as  though  this  was 
not  a  sufficient  check  to  inquiry,  the  fourth  and  fifth  can- 
ons enact  as  follow  : 

Canon  4.  "  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm,  that  the 
form  of  God's  worship  in  the  Church  of  England,  .  .  . 
contained  in  the  book  of  common  prayer  .  .  .  containeth 
any  thing  in  it  that  is  repugnant  to  the  Scriptures,  let  him 
be  excommunicated  zpso  facto,  and  not  restored,  but  by  the 
bishop  of  the  place,  or  archbishop,  after  his  repentance  and 
public  revocation  of  such  his  wicked  errors." 

Canon  5.  "  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm,  that  any 
of  the  thirty-nine  articles  .  .  .  are  in  any  part  superstitious 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.    313 

or  erroneous,  or  such  as  he  may  not  with  a  good  con- 
science subscribe  unto,  let  him  be  excommunicated," 
&c.  &c. 

Whatever  errors  there  may  be  in  the  prayer-book  or  the 
articles,  each  Anglican  minister  has  the  greatest  possible 
temptations  to  persuade  himself  and  others  that  they  are 
truths.  His  peace,  his  income,  liis  position  in  society,  his 
friendships,  and  the  maintenance  of  his  family,  all  depend 
on  his  avowing  his  belief  that  the  prayer-book  contains  in 
it  nothing  repugnant  to  the  Scriptures,  and  that  there  is 
nothing  in  any  one  of  the  thirty-nine  articles  which  is  erro- 
neous. 

It  is  by  the  authority  of  Parliament  that  these  canons, 
which  have  received  the  sanction  of  the  Crown,  now  bind 
the  clerg)\  Parliament  maintains  them  in  force,  and  hin- 
ders their  revision  ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  the  union  which 
represses  in  the  ministers  of  the  Estabhshment  all  free 
inquiry,  and  holds  them  down  to  mamtain,  age  after  age, 
with  hopeless  incapacity  of  progress*  the  errors  of  those 
great  men  who  broke  through  the  shackles  of  Romanism 
only  to  rivet  on  the  churches  the  shackles  of  the  State. 

To  complaints  against  the  errors  in  the  prayer-book,  sanc- 
tioned and  perpetuated  by  the  union,  it  may  be  repUed. 
that  there  is  a  much  larger  amount  of  truth  sanctioned  and 
perpetuated  by  it ;  that  the  liturgy  is  excellent,  that  the 
thirty-nine  articles  are  generally  sound,  and  that  the  church 
continues  evangelical  through  its  creeds  and  formularies, 
whatever  changes  of  doctrine  may  invade  society.  But  it 
seems  to  me  puerile  to  exult  in  orthodox  creeds  which  are 
disregarded  by  the  living  teachers.  If  our  authorized  books 
are  sound,  and  our  pastors  and  congregations  are  unsound, 
the  churches  are  unsound.  The  use  of  a  sound  creed  is  to 
maintain  soundness  in  the  teachers  ;  and  if  the  teachers 
are  unsound  in  contempt  of  it,  it  becomes  a  dead  letter. 
The  articles  are  generally  scriptural ;  but  the  doctrine  of 
many  AngUcan  pulpits  may  be  judged  of  by  the  following 
extracts  from  Anglo-Catholic  writers,  who  number,  it  is  to 
be  feared,  some  thousands  of  their  adherents  among  the 
clergy  : — 

o 


314        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

1.  "  It  can  not  be  too  often  repeated,  that  if  Protestantism 
be  Christianity,  Catholicism  is  Anti-Christianism,  and  of  course 
vice  versd.  There  never  was,  and  there  never  will  be,  charity 
in  softening  down  real  distinctions  ;  open  hostilities  are  ever 
a  shorter  road  to  eventual  peace  than  hollow  and  suspicious 
alliances." — British  Critic,  Jul3%  1843,  p.  64. 

2.  Protestantism  and  Romanism. — "  It  ought  not  to  be 
for  nothing,  no,  nor  for  any  thing  short  of  some  very  vital 
truth  .  .  .  that  persons  of  name  and  influence  should  venture 
on  the  part  of  ecclesiastical  agitators  ...  an  object  thus  mo- 
mentous we  believe  to  be  the  unprotestantizing  of  the  national 
church."— /6ic^.  July,  1841,  p.  44. 

"  As  we  go  on,  we  must  recede  more  and  more  from  the 
principles,  if  any  such  there  be,  of  the  English  Reformation." 
— Ihid.  p.  45. 

"  I  utterly  reject  and  anathematize  the  principle  of  Prot- 
estantism as  a  heresy,  with  all  its  forms,  sects,  or  denomina- 
tions."— Rev.  W.  Palmer,  Letter  to  Mr.  Golightly,  p.  9. 

"  Protestantism  in  its  essence  and  in  all  its  bearings  is 
characteristically  the  religion  of  corrupt  human  nature." — 
British  Critic,  July,  1841,  p.  27. 

"  The  Protestant  tone  of  doctrine  and  thought  is  essentially 
anti-Christian." — Ihid.  p.  29. 

'^  Antichrist,  we  know,  is  prophetically  described  as  the 
Man  of  Sin,  who  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself  above  .  . .  God. 
This,  to  be  plain,  is  just  our  own  notion,  as  we  have  never 
shrunk  from  avowing,  of  Protestantism." — Ibid.  July,  1843» 
p.  65. 

"  We  trust,  of  course,  that  active  and  visible  union  with 
the  see  of  Rome  is  not  of  the  essence  of  a  church,  at  the 
same  time,  we  are  deeply  conscious  that  in  lacking  it,  far 
from  asserting  a  right,  we  forego  a  great  privilege.  Rome 
has  imperishable  claims  upon  our  gratitude,  and,  were  it  so^ 
ordered,  upon  our  deference  .  .  .  For  her  sins,  and  for  our 
own,  we  are  estranged  from  her  in  presence,  not  in  heart : 
may  we  never  be  provoked  to  forget  her,  or  cease  to  love 
her  r— British  Critic,  July,  1841,  p.  3. 

3.  On  the  Scriptures. — "  The  true  creed  is  the  Catholic 
interpretation  of  Scripture,  or  scripturally  proved  tradition 
.  .  .  Scripture  and  tradition  taken  together  are  the  joint  rule 
of  faith."— Trac^  78,  p.  2. 

"  As  to  the  nondescript  system  of  religion  now  in  fashion, 
that  nothing  is  to  be  believed  but  what  is  clearly  in  Scripture 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.    315 


without  its  internal  consistency  .  .  .  Both,  however,  are  mere 
theories  in  theology,  and  ought  to  be  discarded  by  serious 
men:'— Tract  85,  p.  25. 

"  The  structure  of  Scripture  is  such  .  .  .  that  either  we 
must  hold  that  the  gospel  doctrine  or  message  is  not  con- 
tained in  Scripture,  or,  as  the  alternative,  we  must  hold  that 
it  is  but  indirectly  and  covertly  recorded  there,  under  the 
surface." — Ibid.  p.  27. 

"  So,  then,  we  do  not  make  Scripture  the  rule  of  our  faith, 
but  that  other  things  in  their  kind  are  rules  also  ;  in  such 
sort  that  it  is  not  safe,  without  respect  had  to  them,  to  judge 
things  by  the  Scripture  alone." — Field,  m  Tract  90,  p.  11. 

*'  In  the  sense  in  which  it  is  cominonly  understood  at  this 
day.  Scripture,  it  is  plain,  is  not,  on  Anglican  principles,  the 
rule  of  faith." — Ibid.  p.  11. 

'*  The  writers  of  the  '  Tracts  for  the  Times'  took  the  true 
ground  of  an  appeal  to  the  voice  of  the  church  in  all  ages. 
It  was  not  to  supersede  the  use  of  the  Scriptures ;  it  was  not 
even  to  establish  tradition  as  the  rule  of  faith  separate  from 
the  written  word  .  .  .  that  they  had  recourse  to  antiquity,  but 
it  was  to  settle  the  sense  of  the  Scriptures." — Plain  Words^ 
2d  edit.  p.  17. 

4.  Justification  by  Faith. — "  When  faith  is  called  the 
sole  instrument,  this  means  the  sole  internal  instrument, 
not  the  sole  instrument  of  any  kind.  There  is  nothing  in- 
consistent, then,  in  faith  being  the  sole  instrument  of  justifi- 
cation, and  yet  baptism  also  the  sole  instrument;  nor  does 
the  sole  instrumentality  of  faith  interfere  with  the  doctrine 
of  works  being  a  mean  also  .  .  .  An  assent  to  the  doctrine 
that  faith  alone  justifies,  does  not  at  all  preclude  the  doctrine 
of  works  justifying  also." — Tract  90,  p.  12. 

"  Works  done  with  divine  aid,  and  in  faith  before  justifi- 
cation, do  dispose  men  to  receive  the  grace  of  justification." — 
Ibid.  p.  16. 

"  The  bishop  then  would  say,  that  justified  Christians  are 
accounted  righteous,  in  consideration  of  a  righteousness  not 
their  own  ;  Mr.  Newman,  that  they  are  accounted  righteous 
inasmuch  as  they  have  been  made  so  through  Christ'a 
righteousness  inwrought  into  them." — British  Critic,  July, 
1843,  p.  74. 

•'  Evangelicals  .  .  .  cleave  to  the  soul-destroying  heresy  of 
Luther  on  the  subject  of  justification." — Ibid.  p.  33. 


316        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

*'  The  very  first  aggression  of  those  who  labor  to  revive 
some  degree  at  least  of  vital  Christianity  .  .  .  must  be  upon 
that  strange  congeries  of  notions  and  practices  of  which  the 
Lutheran  doctrine  of  justification  is  the  origin  and  represent- 
ative. Whether  any  heresy  has  ever  infested  the  church  so 
hateful  and  unchristian  as  this  doctrine,  it  is  perhaps  not 
necessary  to  determine  :  none  certainly  has  ever  prevailed  so 
subtle  and  extensively  poisonous." — Ihid.  Oct.  1842,  p.  390. 

5.  The  Sacraments. — "  This  may  even  be  set  down  as 
the  essence  of  sectarian  doctrine  ...  to  consider  faith  and 
not  the  sacraments  as  the  instrument  of  justification." — 
Tracts,  vol.  ii.  p.  6.     Preface. 

"  The  sacraments,  not  preaching,  are  the  sources  of  divine 
grace." — Tracts,  vol.  i.  p.  4.     Preface. 

"  This,  then,  is  the  characteristic  mark  of  these  two 
[sacraments,  bajJtism  and  the  Lord's  Supper],  separating 
them  from  all  other  whatever ;  and  this  is  nothing,  but  say- 
ing in  other  words,  that  they  are  the  only  justifying  rites 
or  instruments  of  communicating  the  atonement." — Tract  90, 
p.  46. 

"  The  two  'sacraments  of  the  Gospel'  are  those  which 
directly  communicate  Christ  to  the  soul." — British  Critic, 
July,  1843,  p.  51. 

6.  Baptism. — "  The  doctrine  of  regeneration  in  baptism, 
the  very  spirit  and  essence  of  the  whole  teaching  of  the 
church." — Plain  Words,  p.  21. 

'*  However  frankly  we  may  admit,  and  however  gladly  we 
may  contemplate,  that  wonder  of  divine  grace,  whereby  the 
man  who  has  long  wandered  from  his  baptismal  standing  is 
brought  back  to  it,  we  must  never  permit  ourselves  to  view 
such  cases  as  according  to  the  general  rule.  In  their  way 
they  are  anomalies,  wonderfully  illustrative,  indeed,  of  the 
long  suflfering  of  God,  but  not  the  unthwarted  growth  of  his 
own  plan  of  salvation,  which,  in  the  first  instance,  contem- 
plates baptism  as  the  beginning,  and  then  the  Christian 
character  steadily  growing  out  of  that  beginning." — Christian 
Remembrancer,  May,  1843,  p.  670. 

"  Baptism  .  .  .  confers  on  a  child  all  things,  and  the  true 
way  of  addressing  such  a  child  is  not  to  speak  to  him  of  any 
new  birth  yet  to  be  waited  for  ;  but  tell  him  to  go  forth 
against  evil,  fresh  from  the  water,  and  strong  in  the  bless- 
ings, of  his  baptism." — Ibid.  June,  1843,  p.  816. 

"  Surely  the  church  has  not  encouraged  the  modern  habit 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.     317 

of  dating   conversion,   of  taking  cognizance  of  any  marked 
revolutionary  epoch  in  a  man's  life,  besides  his  baptism  ? 

'^Justification,  in  Anglican  theology,  is  ruled  to  be  the  first 
step  in  the  Christian  life.  In  the  thirteenth  article,  '  works 
done  before  justification'  are  explained  to  be  equivalent  to 
"  works  done  before  the  grace  of  Christ  and  inspiration  of  his 
Spirit,'  which,  at  the  latest,  takes  place  at  baptism." — Ihid. 
October,  1841,  p.  273. 

7.  The  Lord's  Supper. — "As  material  bodies  approach 
by  moving  from  place  to  place,  so  the  approach  and  presence 
of  a  spiritual  body  may  be  in  some  other  way ;  .  .  .  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  may  be  really  literally  present  in  the 
holy  eucharist,  yet,  not  having  become  present  by  local  pas- 
sage, may  still  literally  and  really  be  at  God's  right  hand  .  .  . 
The  true  determination  of  all  such  questions  may  be  this, 
that  Christ's  body  and  blood  are  locally  at  God's  right  hand, 
yet  really  present  here — present  here,  but  not  here  in  place." 
—  Tract  90,  p.  56. 

»'  This  is  what  the  Catholic  church  seems  to  hold  concern- 
ing our  Lord's  presence  in  the  sacrament,  that  he  then 
personally  and  bodily  is  present  with  us  in  the  way  an  object 
is  which  we  call  present." — Ihid.  p.  56. 

"  Receiving  him  [Christ]  into  this  very  body,  they  who  are 
his  receive  life." — Dr.  Pusey^s  Sermons,  p.  9. 

"  His  flesh  and  blood  in  the  sacrament  shall  give  life  .  .  . 
because  they  are  the  very  flesh  and  blood  which  were  given 
and  shed  for  the  life  of  the  world,  and  are  given  to  those  for 
whom  they  had  been  given." — Ibid.  p.  20. 

"  If  Balaam's  ass  instructed  Balaam,  what  is  there  fairly 
to  startle  us  in  the  church's  doctrine,  that  the  water  of 
baptism  cleanses  from  sin  ;  that  eating  the  consecrated  bread 
is  eating  his  body ;  or  that  oil  may  be  blessed  for  spiritual 
purposes?" — Tract  85,  p.  90. 

8.  The  Priesthood. — "  The  holy  feast  on  our  Saviour's 
sacrifice  .  .  .  was  intended  by  him  to  be  constantly  conveyed 
through  the  hands  of  commissioned  persons.  Except,  there- 
fore, we  can  show  such  a  warrant,  we  can  not  be  sure  that 
our  hands  convey  the  sacrifice  ;  we  can  not  be  sure  that  souls 
worthily  prepared,  receiving  the  bread  which  we  break,  and 
the  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  are  partakers  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ."— Trac^  4,  p.  2. 

"  The  sacerdotal  office  in  the  church  is  the  foundation  of 
all  the  rest  ...  If  the  church  have  a  sacerdotal  office,  she 


318        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

must  necessarily  have  functionaries  by  whom  to  administer 
it  .  .  .  The  priest  is  to  be  considered  by  his  flock  as  standing 
to  them  in  so  many  respects  in  the  place  of  God  .  .  .  the 
type  and  representative  to  them  of  the  invisible  ....  Their 
primary  office  is  to  be  the  Church's  functionaries  in  dispensing 
to  the  people  her  varied  blessings,  .  .  .  and  above  all,  in  offer- 
ing up  that  holy  service  whereby  the  fruits  of  our  Lord's 
atonement  are  daily  impetrated  and  diffused  .  .  .  throughout 
the  church  .  .  .  The  priesthood  may  be  called  the  organs  of 
the  Spirit." — British  Critic,  July,  1843,  pp.  50,  53,  54,  58. 

"  A  person  not  commissioned  from  the  bishop  may  use  the 
words  of  baptism,  and  sprinkle  or  bathe  with  the  water  on 
earth,  but  there  is  no  promise  from  Christ  that  such  a  man 
shall  admit  souls  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  A  person  not 
commissioned  .  .  .  may  pretend  to  give  the  Lord's  Supper, 
but .  .  .  there  is  no  warrant  from  Christ  to  lead  communicants 
to  suppose  that .  .  .  they  will  be  partakers  in  the  Saviour's 
heavenly  body  and  blood." — Tract  35,  p.  3. 

9.  Apostolical  Succession. — "  I  fear  we  have  neglected 
the  real  ground  on  which  our  authority  is  built — our  apostol- 
ical descent .  .  .  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  gave  his  Spirit  to 
his  apostles ;  they  in  turn  laid  their  hands  on  those  who 
should  succeed  them,  and  these  again  on  others  ;  and  so  the 
sacred  gift  has  been  handed  down  to  our  present  bishops, 
who  have  appointed  us  as  their  assistants  .  . .  We  must  neces- 
sarily consider  none  to  be  really  ordained  who  have  not  thus 
been  ordained." — Tract  1,  pp.  2,  3. 

"Why  should  we  talk  so  much  of  an  Establishment,  and 
so  little  of  an  apostolical  succession  ?  Why  should  we  not 
seriously  endeavor  to  impress  our  people  with  the  plain  truth, 
that  by  separating  themselves  from  our  communion,  they 
separate  themselves  .  .  .  from  the  only  church  in  this  realm 
which  has  a  right  to  be  quite  sure  that  she  has  the  Lord's 
body  to  give  to  his  people?" — Tract  4,  p.  5. 

"  Do  you  then  unchurch  all  the  Presbyterians,  all  the 
Christians  who  have  no  bishops  ?  .  .  .  We  are  not  to  shrink 
from  our  deliberate  views  of  truth  and  duty  because  difficulties 
may  be  raised  about  the  case  of  such  persons,  any  moj-e  than 
we  should  fear  to  maintain  the  paramount  necessity  of  Chris- 
tian belief  because  similar  difficulties  may  be  raised  about 
virtuous  heathens,  Jews,  or  Mahometans." — Ibid.  p.  6. 

"  It  is  not  merely  because  Episcopacy  is  a  better  or  more 
Scriptural  form  than  Presbyterianisra  . .  .  that  Episcopalians 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.    319 

are  right  and  Presbyterians  are  wrong ;  but  because  the 
Presbyterian  ministers  have  assumed  a  power  which  was 
never  intrusted  to  them.  They  have  presumed  to  exercise 
the  powers  of  ordination,  and  to  perpetuate  a  succession  of 
ministers,  without  having  received  a  commission  to  do  so." — 
Tract  7,  p.  2. 

•'It  is  beautifully  expressed  in  the  acts  of  the  synod  of 
Bethlehem,  which  the  Eastern  Church  transmitted  to  the 
nonjuring  bishops  : — '  Therefore  we  declare,  that  this  hath 
ever  been  the  doctrine  of  the  Eastern  Chnrch, — that  the 
episcopal  dignity  is  so  necessary  in  the  church,  that  without 
a  bishop  there  can  not  exist  any  church,  nor  any  Christian 
man  ;  no,  not  so  much  as  in  name. " — British  Critic,  April, 
1842,  p.  498. 

"A  person  who  denies  the  apostolical  succession  of  the 
ministry,  because  it  is  not  clearly  taught  in  Scripture,  ought, 
I  conceive,  if  consistent,  to  deny  the  Godhead  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  which  is  nowhere  literally  stated  in  Scripture." — 
Tract  85,  p.  4. 

I  believe  the  number  of  those  who  hold  these  false  doc- 
trines to  be  still  increasing-.  A  still  larger  number  neglect 
or  deny  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  grace  through  faith, 
and  of  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Young  men  of 
both  classes  very  easily  obtain  ordination,  and  when  they 
are  ordained,  the  union  opens  to  them  all  our  parishes. 
Were  Anglican  ministers  dependent  on  the  congregations 
for  their  maintenance,  evangelical  doctrine  and  personal 
piety  would  be  esteemed  essential  to  the  pastor  of  an  An- 
glican congregation  as  they  now  are  to  the  pastors  of  Inde- 
pendent, Baptist,  and  Methodist  congregations.  But  under 
the  system  of  State  patronage,  all  tests  of  spirituality  be- 
come nearly  impossible.  What  bishop  ever  ventures  to 
refuse  ordination  to  a  respectable  and  well-educated  young 
man  because  he  is  not  evangelical,  and  because  he  aflbrds 
no  proof  of  positive  piety  ?  The  law,  it  is  true,  leaves  or- 
dination to  the  discretion  of  the  bishop  ;  but  were  he  to 
exercise  that  discretion  so  as  to  exclude  all  men  fron^  the 
ministry  who  do  not  afford  evidence  of  personal  piety,  lie 
would  soon  hear  of  it  in  Parliament.  In  fact,  therefore, 
few  bishops  investigate  too  closely.      Now  and  then  a  can- 


320        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  Ui'ON  THINGS. 

didate  is  put  to  the  literary  torture,  when  suspected  of  Cal- 
vinism, or  rejecting  baptismal  regeneration  ;  hut,  for  the 
most  part,  a  "judgment  of  charity"  covers  all.  This 
"judgment  of  charity  is  of  most  extensive  application  in 
the  Anglican  ministry.  No  bishop  or  presbyter  hires  his 
servant,  buys  or  sells,  seeks  a  school  for  his  child,  or  gives 
his  vote  at  an  election,  by  the  "judgment  of  charity."  In 
those  things  they  act  as  men  of  sense  and  business,  inves- 
tigate, obtain  testimony,  judge  by  facts,  and  avoid  by  all 
possible  precautions  injurious  mistakes.  But  in  their  min- 
isterial functions  all  is  reversed  ;  there  is  no  investigation 
of  facts,  no  conclusions  gathered  from  experience,  no  pre- 
cautions against  error,  A  "judgment  of  charity"  pro- 
nounces all  the  children  of  the  parish  regenerate,  though 
successive  generations,  ever  since  the  Reformation,  equally 
pronounced  regenerate,  have  proved  themselves  ungodly. 
The  "judgment  of  charity"  admits  to  the  Lord's  table  all 
who  choose  to  come,  although  they  love  the  ballet  of  the 
opera  and  the  exhibition  of  the  polka  no  less  than  the  me- 
morials of  the  death  of  Christ.  The  "judgment  of  char- 
ity" makes  the  minister  thank  God  for  the  death  of  every 
profligate  of  his  parish  whom  he  buries.  The  "judgment 
of  charity"  makes  facile  incumbents  give  their  ready  testi- 
monials to  the  worth  and  piety  of  any  squire's  son  in  their 
neighborhood,  who  knows  more  of  fishing,  shooting  and 
hunting,  than  he  does  of  the  Bible  ;  and  at  length  the 
same  "judgment  of  charity"  makes  the  bishop  ordain  him 
on  the  strength  of  those  testimonials.  The  result  is,  that 
multitudes  of  unconverted  men  force  their  way  into  the 
ministry,  over  each  of  whom  a  bishop  says,  "  Receive  the 
Holy  Ghost  for  the  office  and  work  of  a  priest  in  the  church 
of  God,  .  .  .  whose  sins  thou  dost  forgive  they  are  forgiven, 
and  whose  sins  thou  dost  retain  they  are  retained." 
Thenceforth  introduced  into  the  apostolical  succession,  they 
catch  the  exultation  of  the  writer  of  the  first  "  Tract  for 
the  Times,"  and  with  him  they  thus  extol  their  new-born 
dignity  :  "  We  have  been  born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the 
will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God.  The 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  gave  his  Spirit  to  the  apostles ;  they  in 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.    321 

turn  laid  their  hands  on  those  who  should  succeed  them  ; 
these  again  on  others  ;  and  so  the  sacred  gift  has  been 
handed  down  to  our  present  bishops,  who  have  appointed 
us  as  their  assistants,  and  in  some  sense  representatives  .  .  . 
Through  the  bishop  who  ordained  us,  we  received  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  power  to  bind  and  to  loose,  to  administer  the 
sacraments  and  to  preach."  ^ 

Unsound  and  unconverted  men  being  thus  made  priests, 
can  easily  force  their  way  into  livings.  Some  few  bishops, 
of  vigorous  mind  and  impetuous  temper,  enamoured  of 
power  and  hostile  to  evangelical  truth,  may  now  and  then 
brave  all  the  cost  and  trouble  of  refusing  institution  to  an 
evangelical.  One  of  our  bishops  has  lately  refused  to  insti- 
tute an  excellent,  sound,  and  experienced  minister,  because 
he  denies  baptismal  regeneration  ;  ^  but  there  is  probably 
no  instance  of  such  refusal  on  the  ground  of  worldliness 
and  want  of  piety  in  the  presentee.  The  hazards  to  the 
bishop  are  too  great.  When  a  bishop  refuses  to  institute 
to  a  benefice,  the  patron  has  a  rem'edy  in  the  temporal 
court  by  an  action  of  quare  impedit ;  and  the  presentee 
may  obtain  redress  by  a  duplex  querela  in  the  ecclesiastical 
court.  In  these  suits  the  bishop  must  assign  cause  of  re- 
fusal ;  and  if  the  cause  alleged  seem  to  the  court  insuffi- 
cient (which  the  want  of  conversion  and  spirituality  would 
always  seem),  then  the  bishop  is  condemned  in  the  costs, 
and  the  right  of  institution  is  transferred  to  the  archbishop 
of  the  province.  Courts  of  law  can  not  judge  of  the  quali- 
fications of  the  ministers  of  Christ ;  and  if  the  presentee, 
however  near  he  may  be  to  Romanism  or  Socinianism, 
will  only  sign  the  thirty-nine  articles,  and  subscribe  to  the 
prayer-book,  and  has  neither  written  nor  preached  any 
thing  directly  contradicting  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  the 
court  would  give  judgment  against  the  bishop.  Bishops, 
therefore,  never  put  themselves  into  this  position,  and  An- 
glo-Catholic  priests  by  thousands  occupy  the  pulpits  of  the 
land.     But  Anglo-Catholic  priests  are  not  the  worst  pastors 

^  Tracts  for  the  Times,  No.  1 . 

^  See  "  Examination  before  Admission  to  a  Benefice  by  the  Bishop 
of  Exeter."     By  G.  C.  Gorhara.     Hatchard  and  Son.     1848. 


322        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

of  our  churches  :  they  may  be  earnest  and  devout  men, 
thoujih  holding  serious  errors  :  but  by  extensive  inquiries 
in  many  counties,  I  am  convinced  that  in  thousands  more 
of  our  parishes  such  a  meager  theology  prevails  as  suits 
men  of  the  world.  Agriculturists,  sportsmen,  men  of  liter- 
ature, lovers  of  fashionable  amusements,  upright  and  esti- 
mable but  worldly  men  by  thousands  are  pastors  to  the 
people  :  in  whose  ministry  the  doctrines  of  justification  by 
grace  through  faith  without  the  deeds  of  the  law,  of  regen- 
eration by  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  the  necessity  of  progressive 
sanctification,  and  the  duty  of  unreserved  obedience  to  the 
whole  law  of  God,  find  no  place.  To  make  this  evil  the 
more  intolerable,  the  same  system  which  fills  the  parishes 
of  England  with  men  who  do  not  know  how  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  their  people,  excludes  from  those  parishes  all 
Anglican  ministers  who  would  preach  it.  "  Not  two 
thousand  out  of  sixteen  thousand  pulpits  in  England  advo- 
cate the  cause  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society."  ^  That 
Society,  patronized  by  archbishops  and  bishops,  is  supported 
by  nearly  all  the  evangelical  ministers  of  the  Establishment, 
and  yet  ha*  access  to  only  two  thousand  pulpits.  Can  we 
venture  to  hope  that  there  are  then  more  than  three  thou- 
sand evangelical  ministers  in  the  Establishment  ?  and  if  so 
then,  as  there  are  13,154  churches  and  chapels,  12,923 
of  the  working  clergy,  and  10,533  benefices,  there  must  be 
nearly  7533  benefices  and  10,154  pulpits  in  which  the  Gos- 
pel is  not  faithfully  preached,  and  about  9923  Anglican  minis- 
ters who  are  unevangelical.  Three  thousand  faithful  men, 
however,  if  they  were  unfettered,  could  make  the  Gospel 
known  in  every  parish,  but  they  are  forbidden.  Christ  has 
said,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  ivorlcl,  and  'preach  the  Go2,pel  to 
every  creature  f""^  and  Paul  felt  himself  to  be  a  debtor  to 
preach  as  far  as  his  strength  allowed  to  all ;  ^  but  the  State 
says  to  all  Anglican  evangelists,  "  You  must  enter  no  parish 
without  the  permission  of  the  incumbent."  We  read  in 
the  fifth  chapter  of  the  Acts  that,  when  the  apostles  were 
beaten  by  their  rulers,  and  commanded  not  to  speak  in  the 

^  Church  Missionary  Society  Jubilee,  June,  1848,  p.  8. 

"  Mark  xvi.  15.  ^  Romans  i.  14. 


DOCTRINE  TAUGHT  IN  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.     323 

name  of  Jesus,  "  Daily  in  every  house  they  ceased  not  to 
teach  and  i^each  Jesus  Christ ^  ^  But  by  the  seventy- 
first  canon  it  is  enacted,  "  No  minister  shall  preach  in  any 
private  house  ....  upon  pain  of  suspension  for  the  first 
offense,  and  excommunication  for  the  second."  When 
Peter,  aided  by  Barnabas,  was  sanctioning  in  the  church 
of  Antioch  dangerous  error,  we  find  that  Paul  withstood 
him  to  the  face.^  But  the  fifty-third  canon  enacts  that, 
"  If  any  preacher  shall  in  the  pulpit  particularly,  or  name- 
ly of  purpose  impugn  or  confute  any  doctrine  delivered  by 
any  other  teacher  in  the  same  church,  or  in  any  church 
near  adjoining,  before  he  hath  acquainted  the  bishop," 
(whose  own  doctrines  may  be  unevangelical,)  "  the  church- 
warden shall  ....  not  suffer  the  said  preacher  any  more 
to  occupy  that  place  which  he  hath  once  abused,"  (by  ex- 
posing false  doctrine;)  "except  he  faithfully  promise  to 
forbear  all  such  matter  of  contention  in  the  church,"  &c. 
Christ  has  commanded  the  Gospel  to  be  preached  to  every 
creature  ;  but  while  there  are,  perhaps,  7500  parishes  in 
England  in  which  the  Gospel  is  not  faithfully  preached,  no 
evangelical  minister  may  invade  their  ignorance  and  spirit- 
ual death.  For,  "  There  is  no  general  principle  of  ecclesi- 
astical law  more  firmly  established  than  this,  that  it  is  not 
competent  to  any  clergyman  to  officiate  in  any  church  or 
chapel  within  the  limits  of  a  parish  without  the  consent  of 
the  incumbent  ;"^  and  from  private  houses  we  have  alrea- 
dy seen  that  they  are  excluded.  Evangelical  ministers 
are  thus  shut  out  of  the  parishes  of  ungodly  ministers.  An 
able  and  excellent  man  may  be  tempted  to  indolence  as  the 
pastor  of  one  of  the  1907  parishes,  whose  population  is 
under  100  ;  or  of  the  6681  parishes,  whose  population  is 
under  300  ;  and  around  him  may  be  populous  districts,  in 
which  his  sermons  might  bring  hundreds  to  Christ.  Mul- 
titudes within  his  reach  may  never  hear  the  Gospel ;  and 
their  ministers  may  be  unconverted  men,  farmers,  sports- 
men, and  men  of  pleasure,  but  without  their  leave  he  must 
not  enter  one  of  their  parishes,  though  he  knows  that  the 
people  are  perishing  in  irrehgion,  and  willing  to  hear.  If 
^  Acts  V.  42.  2  Gal.  ii.  11.  ^  Burn,  vol.  i.  p.  306. 


324        LNFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

among  them  some  few  crowd  his  small  ' '  church  of  wood 
and  stone,"  and,  bemg  converted  by  his  ministry,  wish  to 
join  the  living  church,  their  own  parish  incumbents  and 
neighbors  being  all  careless  about  religion,  the  twenty- 
eighth  canon  forbids  it  in  the  following  terms  : — "  The 
churchwardens  ....  shall  mark  ....  whether  any  stran- 
gers come  often  and  commonly  from  other  parishes  to  their 
church,  and  shall  show  their  minister  of  them,  lest,  perhaps, 
they  shall  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  table  among  others, 
which  they  shall  forbid  ;  and  remit  such  home  to  their 
own  parish  churches  and  ministers,  there  to  receive  the 
communion  with  the  rest  of  their  neighbors."  And  the 
fifty-seventh  canon  adds  the  following  directions  : — "  If 
any  parson,  vicar,  or  curate,  shall  either  receive  to  the 
communion  any  such  persons,  which  are  not  of  his  church 
and  parish,  or  shall  baptize  any  of  their  children,  let  him 
be  suspended."  By  one  canon  the  faithful  ministers  of  the 
Gospel  are  forbidden  to  enter  the  parishes  of  ungodly 
ministers  to  preach  to  their  neglected  parishioners ;  by 
another  they  are  required  to  expel  any  of  them  who  may 
happen  to  be  awakened  from  their  own  churches  ;  and  by 
another  they  ra^ust  not  even  warn  their  people  of  the  false 
doctrines  which  are  ruining  men's  souls  in  all  the  surround- 
ing pulpits. 

Thousands  of  parishes  are  thus  surrendered  by  the  State 
to  Anglo-Catholic  or  worldly  men,  to  whom  the  union 
secures  a  monopoly  of  instruction.  A  spiritual  darkness 
broods  over  the  land,  beneath  which  piety  dies,  and  no 
stirring  evangelists  may  dispel  it.  This  is  bad  enough, 
but  it  seems  to  me  still  worse  that  the  effect  of  the  union 
has  been  to  stupefy  men's  consciences,  while  it  ties  their 
hands.  Christ's  command  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature  is  superseded  by  canons  which  forbid  it  to  be 
preached  ;  and  evangelical  ministers,  and  myriads  of  pious 
persons,  contentedly  see  the  commandments  of  Christ  made 
of  none  effect  by  church  traditions  (see  Matt.  xv.  1-9), 
and  when  they  knoiv  that  there  are  thousands  to  whom 
the  Gospel  is  not  preached,  do  nothing  to  save  them  ;  nay, 
uphold,  with  a  strange  enthusiasm,  the  "  venerable  Estab- 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       325 

lishment,"   whose  law  of  patronage   and  whose  merciless 
canons  perpetuate  their  fatal  ignorance. 

If  this  continues,  and  the  country  becomes  more  irreli- 
gious— if  myriads  of  men,  women,  and  children,  who  might 
have  been  saved  by  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  perish  in  their 
ignorance  because  Christian  men  are  so  timid  and  slothful 
that  they  will  not  break  down  this  parochial  monopoly,  and 
will  not  claim  and  win  the  right  of  Christian  ministers  to 
preach  Christ  to  all  that  know  him  not,  then  the  ruin  of 
these  multitudes  in  the  untaught  alleys  of  each  city,  and 
the  ill-taught  villages  of  each  county,  must  lie  at  their 
door.  Ministers  and  churches  are  bound  to  preach  Christ 
to  every  creature,  and  woe  is  unto  us  if  we  preach  him 
not! 


Section  V. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Discipline 
of  the  Anglican  Churches. 

By  church  discipline  is  meant  the  system  of  regulations 
for  the  admission,  correction,  and  exclusion  of  members  and 
of  officers  in  churches  ;  its  objects  are  to  maintain  purity 
of  doctrine  in  each  church,  and  to  promote  the  piety  of  its 
members.  It  is  to  prevent  unfit  persons  from  being  admitted 
into  fellowship  with  the  church,  to  correct  offending  mem- 
bers, and  to  exclude  those  whose  conduct  is  unM^orthy  of 
their  profession  ;  to  secure  the  selection  of  a  faithful  pastor, 
and  to  remove  a  pastor  who  is  unsound,  immoral,  ungodly, 
or  incapable.  It  is  thus  intended  to  render  each  church, 
what  several  of  the  primitive  churches  were,  a  society  of 
"  saints  and  faithful  brethren."  ^  It  is  to  help  each  church 
to  fulfill  in  its  measure  the  prediction  of  Isaiah  respecting 
the  universal  church,  contained  in  these  words:  "-Arise, 
shine  ;  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is 
risen  upon  thee  ;  for,  behold,  the  darkness  shall  cover  the 
earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people  ;  hut  the  Lord  shall 
arise  upon  thee,  and  his  glory  shall  he  seen  upon  thee"^ 
It  is  to  render  each  church,  in  a  degree,  what  the  Lord 

1  Rom.  i.  7;  1  Cor.  i.  2;  Eph.  i.  1;  Phil.  i.  1;  Col.  i.  2j 
1  Thess.  i.  5   2  Thess.  i.  3,  &c.  ^  Isaiah  Ix.  1,  2. 


326       INFLUExN'CE  OF  THE  UxMON  UPON  THINGS. 

Jesus  Christ  will  eventually  make  his  universal  churcli, 
"  a  glorious  church,  not  having  S2wt  or  wrinkle,  or  any 
such  thing,  but  holy  and  ivithout  blemish.'''''^  It  is  to 
make  and  keep  the  members  of  the  church  "  blameless  and 
harmless,  the  so?is  of  God  ivithout  reproach,  rsKva  Oeov 
dfj.G)[j,7jTa.^ 

In  order  to  examine  how  far  the  union  provides  for  these 
objects  in  the  discipline  of  the  Establishment,  let  us  consider, 
first,  the  constitution  of  its  church  courts,  and,  secondly,  its 
administration  of  discipline. 

I. — On  Church  Courts. 

I  do  not  find  in  the  New  Testament  any  other  church 
court  than  the  church  itself  under  the  presidency  of  its 
elders.  Acts  vi.  1-6  ;  xv.  6,  21,  22,  23,  25,  28  ;  Heb. 
xiii.  7,  17;    1  Pet.  v.  1,  2. 

Church-meetings  were  frequent.  Acts  vi.  2  ;  xi.  22  ; 
xiv.  27  ;  XV.  4,  22  ;  xviii.  22  ;  1  Cor.  vi.  19  ;  Col.  iv. 
16,  &c. 

The  church  forsook  or  excommunicated  unsound  teachers. 
Matt.  vii.  15  ;   Gal.  v.  12. 

Individual  members  used  their  gifts  for  the  welfare  of 
the  church.      1  Cor.  xiv.  12  ;    1  Pet.  iv.  10. 

Some  acted  as  pastors  who  were  not  preachers.  1  Tim. 
V.  17. 

Members  of  churches  comforted  each  other.  1  Thess. 
iv.  18. 

They  edified  each  other.      1  Thess.  v.  1 1 . 

They  exhorted  and  admonished  each  other.  Col.  iii.  1 6  ; 
Heb.  iii.  ,13  ;  x.  25. 

They  confessed  to  each  other.      James  v.  16. 

They  warned  the  unruly,  comforted  the  feebleminded, 
and  supported  the  weak.      1  Thess.  v.  14. 

They  settled  quarrels  among  themselves.  Matt,  xviii. 
17  ;    1  Cor.  vi.  3,  4. 

They  restored  backsliders.     Gal.  vi.  1  ;   2  Cor.  ii.  6,  7. 

They    excommunicated    offenders.       Matt,    xviii.     17  ; 

^  Eph.  V.  27.  '  PhU.  ii.  15. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       327 

Kom.  xvi.  17  ;  1  Cor.  v.  13  ;  2  Cor.  ii.  6  ;  2  Cor.  vi. 
14-18. 

And  each  church  was  responsible  for  all  the  false  doc- 
trine or  immoral  conduct  which  was  found  Avithin  it.  Rev. 
ii.  2,  5,  14-16,  20,  with  ii.  11,  17,  29. 

But  by  the  union  the  church  is  set  aside.  It  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  choice  of  its  officers,  nor  their 
dismissal,  nor  with  the  admission  or  exclusion  of  members, 
nor  with  the  infliction  of  church-censures  ;  its  functions 
having  been  entirely  superseded  by  a  system  of  ecclesiastical 
courts,  established  for  all  the  Anglican  Churches  by  author- 
ity of  the  Crown.  Criminally  has  the  State,  without 
authority  from  Christ,  usurped  the  functions  of  the  churches  ; 
and,  with  equal  disregard  to  the  will  of  Christ,  declared 
by.  apostolic  precepts  and  precedents,  have  the  Anglican 
Churches  abandoned  their  proper  duty  of  self-administra- 
tion. Instead  of  that  loving  watchfulness  over  one  an- 
other, and  that  loyal  zeal  for  the  honor  of  the  Redeemer, 
by  which  the  purity  of  the  first  churches  was  secured,  all 
cases  of  discipline  are  now  carried  into  courts  which  have 
no  authority  from  Christ,  for  which  there  is  no  precedent 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  which  common  sense  rejects. 

The  highest  court  in  the  EstabUshment  is  the  Convoca- 
tion, which  is  its  legislature  ;  while  the  administration  of 
its  laws  is  committed  to  the  bishops,  to  300  peculiars,  to 
diocesan  consistorial  courts,  to  the  court  of  Arches,  to  the 
courts  of  common  law,  and  to  the  privy  council.  Let  us 
examine  the  constitution  and  operation  of  these  courts. 

1.  The  Cmvvocation. — In  the  province  of  Canterbury 
the  Convocation  consists  of  two  houses — the  upper  house 
of  bishops,  the  lower  of  the  inferior  clergy  and  their  repre- 
sentatives. Besides  those  who  sit  in  their  own  right,  there 
are  civilians  elected  to  represent  the  cathedral  chapters  and 
the  diocesan  clergy.  Each  diocese  sends  up  two  representa- 
tives ;  but  as  none  but  incumbents  have  any  right  to  vote 
in  their  election,  the  curates,  who  amount  to  one-third  of 
the  working  clergy,  are  unrepresented,  together  with  all 
the  churches  themselves.  Thus  the  synod  comprehends 
22  deans,  53  archdeacons,  24  proctors  of  chapters,  and  44 


328        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

proctors  of  the  parochial  clergy.  Of  the  143  members  of 
whom  the  court  is  composed,  75  are  dignitaries  who  sit  in 
their  own  right,  and  21  represent  the  cathedral  clergy. 
There  are,  therefore,  99  members  who  are  connected  with 
the  cathedrals  and  the  higher  offices  of  the  Establishment, 
and  44  represent  the  parochial  clergy.  The  Anglican 
Churches  and  their  curates  are  totally  unrepresented.  No 
Anglican  pastor,  unless  he  be  a  dignitary,  can  sit  there. 
The  clergy  can  only  be  represented  by  lawj^ers,  and  these 
form  only  one-third  of  the  assembly,  while  the  other  two- 
thirds  are  composed  of  lawyers  who  represent  the  cathedral 
chapters,  and  of  dignitaries  who  are  not  representatives  at 
all.  This  court  is  a  mockery  of  representation.  No  part 
of  it  represents  the  churches,  and  that  part  of  it  which 
represents  the  clergy  is  so  small,  that  in  any  question 
between  the  dignitaries  and  the  working  clergy  the  digni- 
taries must  always  have  an  overwhelming  majority.  Yet, 
the  139th  canon  has  enacted,  "  Whosoever  shall  hereafter 
affirm,  that  the  sacred  synod  of  this  nation,  in  the  name 
of  Christ  and  by  the  king's  authority  assembled,  is  not  the 
true  Church  of  England  by  representation,  let  him  be  ex- 
communicated ;"  and  if  ever  the  Church  of  England  is  to 
act  as  a  corporate  body,  it  must  act  through  this  mockery 
of  a  legislature. 

Were  the  13,000  Anglican  Churches  divided  into  groups 
of  fifty,  and  each  group  were  to  send  two  deputies,  a  pastor 
and  a  lay  member,  this  body  of  520  deputies  would  be  a 
real  representation  of  the  Establishment ;  but  this  dwarfish 
synod,  being  two-thirds  head,  and  one-third  body,  with  no 
pastors  of  churches,  and  no  elected  members  except  lawyers, 
could  effect  no  reform,  and  seems  only  fitted,  even  if  in 
active  operation,  to  perpetuate  those  abuses  in  the  Estab- 
lishment among  which  it  itself  occupies  a  principal  place. 

But  even  this  feeble  thing  is  so  feared  by  the  State,  that 
it  is  kept,  like  a  tiger,  in  a  cage,  where  it  has  no  space  in 
which  to  act ;  and  has  received  so  many  knocks  that  its 
very  growl  has  died. 

Before  they  can  meet  in  convocation,^  the  clergy  must 
^  Burn,  vol.  ii.  p.  24. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       329 

have  leave  to  do  so  under  the  broad  seal,  as  a  convocation 
can  not  assemble  without  consent  of  the  king. 

Whatever  evils  prevail  in  the  Establishment  requiring, 
like  the  semi-papal  mania  of  late  years,  the  most  earnest 
deliberation  and  solemn  decisions  of  the  churches,  they 
must  remain  unexamined,  unless  the  Crown  gives,  not  the 
churches,  but  the  dignitaries  and  the  lawyers,  leave  to  ex- 
amine them.  The  churches  can  never  examine  them  ; 
the  dignitaries  must  not  without  the  leave  of  the  Crown. 

When  the  Convocation  has  obtained  leave  to  sit,  it  can 
not  make  any  canon  without  the  assent  of  the  Crown. 

When  any  canon  is  made,  it  can  not  be  executed  without 
the  assent  of  the  Crown  ;  so  that  if  the  Anglican  Churches 
think  any  law,  as,  for  instance,  a  congregational  veto  upon 
the  appointment  of  a  pastor  to  be  agreeable  to  the  will  of 
Christ,  and  necessary  for  their  welfare,  the  sovereign  may 
forbid  it,  and  the  churches  must  prefer  the  will  of  the  sove- 
reign to  the  will  of  Christ. 

Nor  are  these  the  only  restrictions  Yipon  this  caged  legis- 
lature. For  even  the  consent  of  the  Crown  does  not 
enable  it  to  make  any  canons  against  the  queen's  preroga- 
tive, against  common  law,  against  any  statute,  and  against 
any  custom  of  the  realm  ;  so  that  if  the  prerogative,  the 
common  law,  the  statute  law,  or  the  customs  of  the  realm, 
be  in  any  respects  opposed  to  the  authority  of  Christ  and 
to  the  will  of  God,  the  Anglican  Churches  must  uphold  the 
authority  of  the  State,  and  must  disregard  the  authority  of 
Christ,  as  the  condition  upon  which  they  are  established. 

If,  further,  the  courts  of  common  law  determine  that  a 
canon  is  not  against  the  prerogative,  nor  against  common 
law,  nor  against  statute  law,  nor  against  custom,  and  it  is 
sanctioned  by  the  queen,  still  it  can  not  bind  the  laity  till  it 
is  sanctioned  by  Parliam.ent.  By  canon  139,  the  Convo- 
cation is  the  Church  of  England,  and  therefore  no  law 
passed  by  the  Church  of  England  can  bind  the  Church  till 
the  State  consent.^  If  the  queen  consent,  it  may  then 
bind  the  pastors  ;  but  unless  a  majority  of  the  representa- 
tives of  London,  Manchester,  Leeds,  Birmingham,  Edin- 
1  Burn,  vol.  ii.  p.  27. 


330       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

burgh,  Dublin,  Oldham,  Aberdeen,  Kilkenny,  and  Cork, 
&c.,  &CC.,  consent,  it  can  not  be  adopted  by  the  churches. 
If  Roman  Catholics,  and  men  of  no  religion  in  Parliament, 
can  obtain  a  majority  to  say  "  No"  to  any  law  of  the 
Anglican  Churches,  then,  however  scriptural  and  however 
necessary  the  law  may  be  for  the  promotion  of  religion  in 
the  land,  it  can  not  bind  the  members  of  the  churches.  The 
Establishment  rests  on  this  condition. 

And  yet,  unprincipled  as  it  appears  in  churches  to  allow 
any  strangers  thus  to  forbid  their  self-government,  which  is 
to  forbid  their  unlimited  obedieftce  to  Christ,  an  examin- 
ation of  the  canons  may  make  us  rejoice  that  the  State  has 
so  pinioned  the  Convocation.  The  existing  canons  bind  the 
clergy,  but  do  not  bind  the  laity.  The  State  has  placed 
the  incumbents  and  the  curates  under  the  control  of  the 
dignitaries'  canons,  but  it  has  protected  all  other  members 
of  the  Establishment  from  this  unwholesome  domination. 
We  live,  therefore,  under  a  curious  system,  in  which  laws 
thought  too  bad  to  bind  the  flocks  are  thought  good  enough 
to  bind  their  pastors  ;  the  churches  are  emancipated,  but 
their  ministers  are  enthralled. 

2.  Diocesan  and  other  Ecclesiastical  Courts. — There 
are  various  ecclesiastical  courts  charged  with  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  laws  relating  to  the  Establishment.^  Three 
hundred  of  these,  of  various  descriptions,  are  termed  pecu- 
liars. Each  diocese  has  also  its  consistorial  court,  exercising 
general  jurisdiction,  over  which  the  bishop  presides.^  A 
new  and  formidable  power  has  been  given  to  the  bishops 
by  the  church  discipline  act,  3  and  4  Vict.  cap.  86,  the 
object  of  which,  says  a  French  paper,  is  to  place  the  inferior 
clergy  more  completely  under  the  rod  of  the  bishops.^  By 
that  act  the  bishop  may  issue  a  commission  to  five  persons 
to  inquire  against  any  offense  against  ecclesiastical  law 
alleged  to  have  been  committed  by  any  minister  ;  for  in- 
stance, that  he  denies  baptismal  regeneration,  or  that  he 
owns  dissenting  ministers  to  be  lawful  ministers  of  Christ. 
These  commissioners  are  to  report  to  the  bishop  whether 

1  Burn,  vol.  ii.  p.  30.  3  jj,^ 

'  "  Toujours  mieux  sous  la  ferrule  des  eveques." 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       331 

there  is  ground  for  instituting  proceedings  against  the  party 
accused.^  Upon  their  report  the  bishop  may  summon  him 
before  him  ;  and  if  the  truth  of  the  charges  be  denied,  the 
bishop,  with  three  assessors  to  be  nominated  by  him,  shall 
hear  the  cause,  and  pronounce  sentence,  which  sentence 
shall  be  good  in  law.  According  to  this  un'English  statute, 
the  bishop  may  nominate  five  of  his  creatures  to  investigate 
the  case  in  secret  ;  upon  their  report  he  may  nominate 
three  others  of  his  creatures  to  sit  together  with  him  se- 
cretly in  judgment  upon  the  accused,  and  upon  their  ex 'parte 
judgment  may  suspend,  or  otherwise  punish,  the  clerical 
victim.  The  bishop  is  accuser,  jury,  and  judge  ;  all  per- 
sons concerned  in  the  trial  may  be  his  creatures,  the  accused 
has  no  right  of  challenging  jurors,  the  public  are  excluded 
from  the  investigation,  and  the  bishop's  sentence  has  the 
force  of  law.  Ministers  who  are  aggrieved  may  appeal  to 
the  judicial  committee  of  the  privy  council,  but  the  appeal 
is  expensive  and  hazardous.  5230  curates  have  average 
stipends  of  8lZ. ;  5861  incumbents  have  under  300Z.  per 
annum,  and,  except  in  very  grave  cases,  a  victory  over  the 
court  of  appeal  would  be  a  worse  evil  than  defeat  in  his 
own  court.  Defeat,  if  patiently  endured,  might  satisfy  his 
desire  of  vengeance,  but  victory  in  the  court  of  appeal 
would  rouse  it  into  dangerous  intensity.  And,  therefore 
in  the  ten  thousand  annoyances  to  which,  after  a  few  years 
of  slumber,  this  statute  is  likely  to  expose  the  most  exem- 
plary clergymen,  they  will  find  it  better  to  submit  than  to 
demand  justice. 

The  highest  court  of  discipline  in  the  province  of  Canter- 
bury is  the  court  of  Arches,  which  exercises  appellate 
jurisdiction  over  each  of  the  diocesan  courts  and  over  most 
of  the  peculiars.^  It  may  decide  all  matters  of  spiritual 
discipline  ;  and  it  may  suspend  or  deprive  clergymen  with- 
out the  presence  of  the  bishop  or  archbishop.^  The  judge 
is  a  doctor  of  civil  law,  and  is  termed  dean  of  the  court. 

3.  Privy  Cmincil. — From  the  court  of  Arches  there 
formerly  lay  an  appeal  to  the  court  of  Delegates,  which 
was  composed  of  commissioners  named  by  the  king  ;    but 

1  Burn,  iii.  338.  «  jb.  n.  30.  ^  lb.  pp.  30,  146. 


332        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

by  2  and  3  Will.  IV.  cap.  92,  and  3  and  4  Will.  IV. 
cap.  41,  the  appeal  was  transferred  to  a  judicial  committee 
of  the  privy  comicil.^  The  committee  consists  of  the  pres- 
ident of  the  council,  the  lord  chancellor,  the  lord  keeper, 
the  chief  justice  of  the  Queen's  Bench,  the  master  of  the 
rolls,  the  vice-chancellor,  the  lord  chief  justice  of  the  Com- 
mon Pleas,  the  chief  baron,  the  judge  of  the  prerogative 
court  of  Canterbury,  and  all  members  of  the  privy  council 
who  have  filled  any  of  the  above  offices,^ 

By  means  of  all  these  courts  offending  clergymen  are 
screened  from  the  punishment  of  their  offenses.  If,  for 
instance,  a  clergyman  of  Cumberland  or  Cornwall  becomes 
a  drunliard,  instead  of  being  judged  by  the  church  to  which 
he  ministers,  according  to  the  method  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, he  would  first  be  brought  before  the  consistorial 
court,  then  before  the  court  of  Arches,  and  then  before  the 
judicial  committee  of  the  privy  council.  And  if  these  noble 
and  learned  persons  do  not  thinlc  him  sufficiently  drunken 
to  deserve  deprivation  or  suspension,  then  his  flock  must 
continue  to  attend  him  or  have  no  Anglican  pastor  at  all. 
The  law  of  Christ  says  to  the  church,  ''Put  away  from 
among  yourselves  that  ivicked  person,''  whether  minister, 
peasant,  or  peer  ;  but  the  union  has  ruled  it,  that  they 
must  not  put  him  away,  urdess  the  consistorial  court,  the 
court  of  Arches,  and  the  judicial  committee  of  the  privy 
council,  say  that  they  may.  Their  obedience  to  the  law 
of  Christ  depends  upon  the  decision  of  a  number  of  distin- 
guished men,  who  may  be  neither  communicants  nor  be- 
lievers. 

The  reason  why  the  committee  of  council  judges  in  the 
last  resort  of  all  ecclesiastical  matters  is,  that,  according  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  union,  the  jurisdiction  exercised  by  the 
ecclesiastical  court  is  derived  from  the  Crown  of  England. 
The  37  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  17,  runs  thus:  "Archbishops, 
bishops,  archdeacons,  and  other  ecclesiastical  persons,  have, 
no  manner  of  jurisdiction  ecclesiastical  but  by  and  from 

your  royal  majesty Forasmuch  as  your  majesty  is 

the  only  and  undoubted  supreme  head  of  the  Church  of 

^  Burn,  vol.  i.  p.  64.  «  lb. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       333 

England,  to  Avliom,  by  holy  Scripture,  all  authority  and 
power  is  wholly  given  to  hear  and  determine  all  manner 
of  causes  ecclesiastical,  and  to  correct  all  vice  and  sin, 
whatsoever."^ 

Yet,  when  it  is  said  that  an  appeal  lies  from  the  court 
of  Arches  to  the  privy  council,  we  must  notice  that  this  is 
only  true  of  matters  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  inferior 
court.  If  any  case  which  is  brought  before  the  court  of 
Arches  is  beyond  its  jurisdiction,  or  is  thought  to  be  so,  the 
case  may  be  transferred  by  appeal  to  the  courts  of  common 
law.  "  As  the  laws  and  statutes  of  the  realm  have  pre- 
scribed to  the  ecclesiastical  courts  their  bounds,  so  the  courts 
of  common  law  have  the  superintendency  over  them  to 
keep  them  within  the  limits  of  their  jurisdiction,  and  to  de- 
termine whether  they  have  exceeded  their  limits  or  no." 

"  The  judges  of  the  courts  of  common  law  have  the  ex- 
position of  those  statutes."  ^ 

Both  the-  superintendence  of  the  courts  of  common  law 
and  the  appeal  to  the  privy  council  illustrate  the  statement 
of  Dr.  Burn  :  "  The  jurisdiction  exercised  in  the  ecclesias- 
tical court  is  derived  from  the  Crown  of  England  ;  and  the 
last  devolution  is  to  the  king  by  way  of  appeal."^  When 
and  where  did  Christ  give  this  authority  to  the  Crown  ? 
and,  if  nowhere,  what  right  have  the  churches  to  abandon 
their  sacred  trust  ? 

II. — Administration  of  Discipline   under  the  Union. 

There  is  a  remarkable  contrast  between  the  simplicity 
of  the  scriptural  system  and  the  complexity  of  the  Anglican. 
According  to  Scripture  the  church  itself  expels  its  offending 
members  :  and  this  is  better  than  the  Anglican  system. 
The  members  of  the  church  best  know  the  transactions 
which  take  place  among  themselves.  It  is  better  that  a 
matter  should  be  settled  on  the  spot  among  those  who  were 
witnesses  of  it,  than  that  it  should  be  transferred  to  a  dis- 
tance for  adjudication.  A  church  composed  of  spiritual 
men  can  understand  spiritual  questions  far  better  than  the 

J  Burn,  vol.  ii.  p.  43.  ^  jj,   p   gj  3  j^. 


334        INFLUEiNCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

lawyers  who  practice  in  the  court  of  Arches,  or  those  who 
compose  the  committee  of  council.  And  since  the  church 
is  composed  of  brethren  among  whom  the  pastor  ought  to 
be  as  a  brother,  it  is  a  great  evil  that  they  should  receive 
back  to  them,  by  sentence  of  a  court  of  law,  a  pastor  who 
has  lost  their  confidence.  To  execute  the  pastoral  office 
carefully,  a  minister  ought  to  be  esteemed  and  loved  by  the 
church  to  which  he  ministers.  As  his  office  exists  solely 
for  their  welfare,  and  as  without  their  esteem  be  can  not 
do  them  good,  upon  losing  that  esteem  he  ought  to  retire. 
The  court  of  Arches  has,  therefore,  inflicted  a  mischief  and 
a  wrong  upon  any  church  when  it  fastens  upon  them  a 
minister  who  has  lost  their  esteem,  because  he  has  not  been 
legally  proved  to  be  guilty  of  an  offense  which  may  occa- 
sion his  degradation.  This  whole  cumbrous  machinery — 
the  consistorial  court,  the  court  of  Arches,  the  committee 
of  council,  and  the  superintendence  of  the  common  law 
courts — is  all  contrived  to  execute  what  the  church  itself 
could  execute  much  more  cheaply  and  eflectually. 

To  illustrate  this  let  us  examine  the  actual  exercise  of 
discipline  in  the  Establishment. 

1 .  Settlement  of  Pastors. — The  first  point  which  claims 
attention  is  the  mode  in  which,  under  the  union,  pastors 
are  settled  over  the  churches  within  the  Establishment. 

Since  the  character  of  a  pastor  is  of  great  importance  to 
a  church,  its  members  are  bound  by  a  regard  for  their  own 
spiritual  welfare,  to  secure  a  good  one.  Since  the  qualifi- 
cations necessary  to  become  a  minister  of  Christ,  by  his 
authority,  are  laid  down  in  Scripture,  and  no  ordained  per- 
sons without  these  minister  by  his  authority,  each  church 
must  see  that  its  minister  has  these  qualifications.^  And 
since  the  first  churches  chose  their  own  ministers,  with  the 
sanction,  and  probably  by  the  advice,  of  the  apostles,  each 
church  is  under  a  moral  obligation  to  follow  this  precedent.^ 
No  church  is  at  liberty  to  devolve  this  duty  of  trying  its 

^  2  Tim.  ii.  2;  1  Tim.  iii.  2;  Tit.  i.  5;  Matt.  vii.  15-20;  John 
X.  4,  5;  Matt.  xii.  30;  Rom.  xvi.  17;  1  Cor.  v.  11-13;  2  John 
9,  11 ;  Rev.  ii.  2;  2  Cor.  xi.  13-15;  Gal.  i.  7-9;  v.  12. 

2  Acts  i.  15-26:  vi.  1-6;  xiv.  23. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.      335 

pastor  upon  any  one  else.  Any  law  or  custom  notwith- 
standing, each  of  the  13,000  churches  in  the  Establishment 
is  bound  to  see  that  its  pastor  is  a  true  pastor,  having  the 
qualifications  required  by  the  New  Testament ;  and  if  this 
duty  is  assigned  by  a  church  to  a  patron,  to  a  diocesan,  to 
a  court  of  law,  the  church  is  disregarding  the  authority  of 
Christ.  In  whatever  manner  the  patrons  or  others  may 
discharge  this  duty  for  a  church,  its  members  have  sinned 
in  putting  their  consciences  into  the  keeping  of  others. 
Christ  did  not  appoint  that  the  committee  of  council  should 
determine  whether  their  pastor  is  faithful,  but  that  they 
should  determine  it,  and  they  are  responsible  for  their  own 
duty.  Still,  since  the  Anglican  Churches  have  devolved 
this  duty  on  the  State,  let  us  see  how  the  State  dis- 
charges it. 

Settleme7it  of  Assistant  Pastors. — The  pastors  of  the 
Establishment  are  either  assistant  pastors  or  sole  pastors, 
either  curates  or  incumbents.  Let  us  first  examine  the 
discipline  of  the  Establishment  refspecting  the  curates. 
Church  discipline  is  meant  to  afford  facilities  for  the  intro- 
duction of  pious  men  into  the  ministry,  and  to  exclude  the 
unworthy  ;  but  the  discipline  of  the  Establishment  is  unfa- 
vorable to  both  these  ends. 

First,  let  us  consider  the  case  of  a  devoted  man  who 
wishes  to  become  the  pastor  of  a  church  within  the  Estab- 
lishment. Various  great  difficulties  are  placed  in  his  way 
by  the  union.  1 .  He  must  declare,  according  to  the  thirty- 
sixth  canon,  that  the  queen,  under  God,  is  the  only  supreme 
governor  of  this  realm  in  all  spiritual  things  and  causes  ; 
which  is  contrary  to  Scripture,  because  Scripture  allows  no 
authority  to  Caesar  in  spiritual  things  ;  and  which  is  con- 
trary to  fact,  because  the  legislature  and  not  the  Crown,  is 
the  supreme  legislative  authority  in  this  comitry.  2.  By 
the  Act  of  Uniformity  he  must  declare  his  assent  and  con- 
sent to  the  prayer-book  with  its  various  errors  ;  and  by  the 
thirty-sixth  canon  must  declare,  notwithstanding  those  errors, 
that  it  contains  in  it  nothing  contrary  to  the  word  of  God. 
3.  By  the  same  canon  he  must  pronounce  all  the  thirty- 
nine  articles,  though  these  also  are  in  several  points  erro- 


336        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

neous,  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God.  When  he  has  con- 
sidered the  statements  to  which  he  is  obUged  to  subscribe, 
he  has  next  to  ask  himself  whether  he  can  place  himself 
under  the  control  of  those  objectionable  canons,  by  which 
he  will  be  legally  bound  the  moment  that  he  shall  become 
an  Anglican  minister. 

Some  pious  men  are  withheld  by  these  considerations 
from  seeking  to  become  pastors  within  the  Establishment. 
His  next  task  is  to  secure  the  consent  of  the  bishop.  If 
he  is  seeking  ordination,  the  bishop  has  nearly  absolute 
power  to  reject  him  without  assigning  any  definite  reason. 
The  bishop  may  choose  to  think  him  unfit  because  he  be- 
lieves in  justification  by  grace  through  faith,  in  regenera- 
tion by  the  Holy  Ghost,  instead  of  maintaining  regeneration 
and  remission  of  sins  by  baptism  ;  or  he  may  declare  that 
he  is  too  old,  because,  like  our  blessed  Lord,  he  was  thirty 
years  of  age  before  he  entered  upon  his  ministry.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  he  is  already  ordained,  the  bishop  has  ab- 
solute power  to  repel  him  from  the  charge  of  any  church 
within  his  diocese  by  simply  refusing  his  license. 

It  is  hence  too  plain  that  the  union  tends  to  prevent 
many  pious  men  from  becoming  pastors.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  provision  to  exclude  bad  men  from  the  pastorate 
is  far  from  adequate.  The  bishop,  it  is  true,  is  absolute, 
and  can  exclude  whom  he  will  from  the  ministry  by  refus- 
ing to  ordain,  or  any  minister  from  being  assistant  pastor 
by  refusing  his  license.  But  if  the  bishop  excluded  from 
ordination  or  from  curacies  worldly  young  men  of  rich  fam- 
ilies and  high  connections,  he  would  subject  himself  to  a 
disagreeable  publicity  in  Parliament  and  elsewhere.  Bish- 
ops, also,  nominated  by  the  ministers  of  the  Crown,  who 
are  apt  to  view  the  Establishment  chiefly  as  an  engine  of 
government,  may  themselves  be,  like  their  patrons,  worldly 
men,  who  would  be  disposed  to  exclude  converted  men  from 
the  ministry  as  enthusiastic,  and  to  admit  the  unconverted 
as  more  rational.  The  majority  of  patrons  also  being 
worldly  men,  and  presenting  worldly  men  to  their  livings, 
these  worldly  incumbents  would  generally  prefer  worldly 
curates.     And  when  worldly  bishops  have  worldly  curates 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.      337 

presented  to  them  for  license  or  for  ordination,  it  is  very- 
unlikely  that  they  should  refuse  to  them  either  one  or  the 
other. 

To  statements  of  this  kind  it  is  common  to  reply  by  ad- 
ducing the  solemn  subscriptions  and  professions  required 
from  each  candidate.  But  all  experience  proves  that  a 
paper  protection  against  abuses,  without  a  living  reforming 
agency,  is  of  no  use.  I  do  not  advance  any  thing  doubtful 
when  I  say,  that  many  unconverted  men  make  all  the  re- 
quired professions  without  seriously  intending  them.  Every 
one  knows  it  to  be  the  case.  The  required  subscriptions 
not  unfrequently  repel  men  of  thoughtful  minds  and  tender 
consciences  ;  but  who  has  ever  heard  of  the  youthful  expect- 
ant of  a  good  living  being  frightened  by  them  in  considera- 
tion of  his  habits  of  idle  gayety  ?  If  it  be  further  imag- 
ined, that  if  men  will  make  false  professions  the  Establish- 
ment deserves  no  blame,  I  answer,  the  Establishment  is 
wholly  to  blame  if  it  depends  upon  paper  defenses  and 
dead  creeds  for  the  protection  of  its  churches  from  ungodly 
pastors,  when  it  might  have  a  powerful  living  agency  to 
protect  them. 

Why  is  not  each  candidate  examined  here,  as  in  Scot- 
land, by  a  board  of  presbyters,  independent  of  the  diocesan, 
whose  approval  might  be  indispensable  for  ordination  ? 
This  would  hinder  the  ordination  of  some  unworthy  men. 
Why  has  not  each  church  a  veto  on  the  appointment  of  its 
pastor  ?  The  experiment  in  Scotland  completely  succeeded. 
Never,  perhaps,  was  a  church  so  rapidly  improved  as  the 
Church  of  Scotland  under  its  veto  law.  Students,  patrons, 
and  presbyters,  were  all  benefited.  Bad  men  were  sure 
of  being  rejected  by  the  churches,  and  would  not  expose 
themselves  to  the  disgrace.  Good  men  were  certain  of 
advancement,  and  crowded  into  the  profession.  And  when 
the  State  interposed  to  prevent  the  veto,  so  convinced  were 
the  evangelical  portion  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  of  its 
necessity,  that  rather  then  forego  it  they  separated  forever 
from  the  Establishment  with  all  its  emoluments  and  hon- 
ors. While  these  guards  are  despised  by  us,  it  is  idle  to 
glory  in  paper  checks,  which  every  unscrupulous  aspirant 

P 


338        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

after  ecclesiastical  wealth  and  dignity  disregards.  Even 
those  who  make  their  boast  of  the  solemnity  of  ordination 
and  the  extent  of  the  required  subscriptions,  know  well 
that  both  are  useless  when  they  are  most  required,  and 
that  thoughtless  libertines  may  laugh  at  both  when  press- 
ing on  to  rich  rectories  which  can  afford  them  the  means 
of  luxuriance  and  self-indulgence  ,  and  that  fellows  of  col- 
leges, more  versed  in  the  heathen  than  in  Christian  litera- 
ture, when  they  wish  to  take  orders  that  they  may  retain 
their  college  incomes,  seldom  dream  of  being  arrested  by 
these  customary  forms. 

It  may  be  said  that  something  like  the  veto  is  given  to 
the  Anglican  Churches  by  the  union,  because  when  the 
candidate  is  to  be  ordained  deacon  the  bishop  first  addresses 
the  people  thus  :  "  Brethren,  if  there  be  any  of  you  know- 
eth  any  impediment  or  notable  crime  in  any  of  these  persons 
presented  to  be  ordained  deacons,  for  the  which  he  ought 
not  to  be  admitted  to  that  office,  let  him  come  forth  in  the 
name  of  God  and  show  what  the  crime  or  impediment  is." 
And  the  rubric  adds,  "  If  any  great  crime  or  impediment 
be  objected,  the  bishop  shall  surcease  from  ordering  that 
person  until  such  time  as  the  party  accused  shall  be  found 
clear  of  that  crime." 

This  sounds  very  well.  But  this  popular  liberty  is 
never  used  ;  the  fitness  of  notoriously  careless  men  is  never 
challenged  ;  and  the  fact  is  too  clearly  accounted  for  by 
the  following  reasons  :  1 .  The  impediment  alleged  must  be 
a  legal  one  ;  and,  since  worldliness,  carelessness,  and  the 
want  of  conversion,  are  no  legal  impediments,  no  one  can 
adduce  these  things  as  reasons  why  any  candidate  should 
not  be  ordained.  2.  The  charge  must  be  capable  of  legal 
proof;  and  as  the  establishment  of  it  would  consume  time 
and  money,  be  invidious,  and  might  fail  of  success,  few 
will  expose  themselves  to  these  inconveniences.  3.  The 
candidate  for  ordination  is  to  be  ordained  at  a  distance 
from  the  church  to  which  he  is  about  to  minister,  which  is 
the  only  church  whose  immediate  interest  it  is  to  prevent 
his  ordination  ;  and  no  members  of  that  church  are  present 
to  object.     4.  The  candidate  for  ordination  is  generally  a 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       339 

perfect  stranger  to  the  church  over  which  he  is  to  be  co- 
pastor,  and  not  one  of  its  members  may  know  more  of  him. 
than  they  would  of  a  Chinese  mandarin  or  a  baboo  of 
Bengal.  Hence,  the  address  to  the  "  Brethren"  is  a  mere 
form  ;  and  not  one  of  the  thousands  of  candidates  for  the 
ministry  in  England,  whatever  his  capacity  and  whatever 
his  levity,  encounters  even  the  whisper  of  an  objection  at 
his  ordination.  The  churches  of  the  Establishment  are 
perfectly  defenseless  ;  but  it  is  their  own  doing.  They 
might  disinthrall  themselves  if  they  would. 

Settlement  of  Sole  Pastors. — If  there  ought  to  be  great 
care  taken  in  the  appointment  of  co-pastors,  the  appointment 
of  the  sole  or  chief  pastor  is  still  more  important.  Con- 
sidering that  the  appointment  is  permanent,  the  most  vig- 
orous means  should  be  employed  to  protect  the  church 
against  a  careless  teacher,  who  may  injure  the  cause  of 
religion  within  the  place  for  nearly  half  a  century.  But 
the  difficulties  encountered  in  the  endeavor  to  repel  from 
the  ministry  assistant  pastors  who  are  unfitted  for  their 
office,  grow  into  an  impossibility  respecting  those  who, 
having  already  been  ordained,  are  to  become,  through  the 
nomination  of  patrons,  the  sole  and  permanent  pastors  of 
churches.  Patrons  being  unrestricted  in  their  choice  among 
fifteen  thousand  ministers  of  the  Establishment,  a  patron 
may  select  whom  he  will  for  any  church  with  which  he  is 
connected.  Provided  that  his  presentee  has  committed  no 
ecclesiastical  ofiense  rendering  him  liable  to  deprivation  or 
suspension,  the  presentee  can  bid  defiance  to  the  bishop  and 
to  the  church.  If  the  bishop  refuse  to  admit  the  presentee 
within  twenty-eight  days,  he  is  liable  to  a  suit  of  dtcplex 
querela  in  the  ecclesiastical  court.  ^  He  must  now  state 
the  cause  of  his  refusal,  and  if  the  cause  which  he  alleges 
is  not  good  in  law,  or  be  not  proved,  then  the  bishop  is 
condemned  in  the  costs  of  the  suit,  and  must  pro«eed  to 
institute,  or  the  right  of  institution  devolves  on  the  arch- 
bishop. ^  At  the  same  time,  the  patron  may  bring  against 
him  an  action  of  quare  hnpedit  in  the  common  law  court, 
in  which  case  the  ordinary  must  show  the  cause  of  his 

»  Bum,  vol  i.  p.  156.  *  lb.  p.  161. 


340        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

reflisal  specially  and  directly  ;  and  if  the  court  does  not 
find  the  cause  good  in  law,  the  ordinary  must  atone  for  the 
injury  to  the  patron  by  the  payment  of  a  second  penalty.^ 
To  these  legal  rights  of  the  patron  and  the  presentee  the 
bishop  can  oppose  no  resistance  ;  and  if  the  latter  be  utterly 
unfit  for  the  pastoral  office,  and  entirely  distasteful  to  the 
people,  destitute  of  the  chief  qualifications  required  by 
Christ,  but  not  destitute  of  those  required  by  law,  the 
bishop  must  admit  him  to  be  the  pastor  of  a  church  which 
detests  him  ;  although  his  entrance  among  them  will  be 
the  signal  for  the  desertion  of  the  temple  and  for  the  decay 
of  all  religion  in  the  place.  Of  all  parties  the  church  is 
the  most  deeply  interested  in  the  settlement  of  its  pastor, 
and  of  all  parties  it  is  the  least  regarded.  The  law  con- 
siders nothing  else  than  the  rights  of  the  patron  and 
presentee,  and  judges  of  the  settlement  of  the  pastor  just  as 
it  would  judge  of  the  settlement  of  an  account  between  two 
partners  in  business.  The  church,  therefore,  having  no 
veto,  no  right  of  effective  objection,  no  method  of  legal 
repulsion  of  an  unfit  man,  sees  a  pastor  forced  upon  it, 
whose  intellect  and  whose  character  alike  forbid  both  respect 
and  affection.  If  the  Anglican  Churches  were  severed  from 
the  State,  no  man  could  become  the  minister  of  any  church 
without  having  first  secured  its  approbation :  but  now 
there  are  thousands  of  churches  who  have  received  from 
patrons  their  pastors  with  merited  reluctance,  or  with  de- 
graded and  stupid  indifference.  And  this  system  will  go 
on  while  the  union  lasts.  Bad  pastors  will  continue  to  be 
forced  upon  the  people,  and  the  Gospel  will  be  excluded 
from  many  parishes  by  the  tyranny  of  the  law  and  the 
degradation  of  the  churches. 

2.  Infiuence  of  the  Union  upon  the  ordinary  exercise 
of  the  'Ministry. — As  no  clergyman  can  officiate  in  any 
parish  «vithout  the  bishop's  license,  which,  with  respect  to 
curates,  the  bishop  may  withhold  and  revoke  at  his  pleas- 
ure, the  ministry  of  each  of  the  five  thousand  curates  of  the 
kingdom  must  be  greatly  directed  and  restrained  by  the 
views  of  his  diocesan.  Should  the  diocesan  frown  upon 
^  Burn,  vol.  i.  p.  162. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.      341 

extempore  preaching  and  prayer,  upon  village  meetings, 
bible  classes,  ministerial  conferences,  the  support  of  evan- 
gelical institutions,  and  friendly  relations  with  dissenters, 
the  curate  must  forego  these  means  of  usefulness.  By  his 
immense  authority,  his  large  patronage,  and  his  absolute 
power  over  a  license  essential  to  the  exercise  of  the  Angli- 
can ministry,  the  bishop  can  mold  and  fashion  the  preach- 
ing and  ministry  of  his  curates  as  he  will.  And  when  the 
bishop  is  a  worldly  man  who  dislikes  the  Gospel,  this  influ- 
ence must  be  noxious  in  the  extreme.  The  union  at  this 
moment  greatly  represses  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
throughout  the  kingdom.  Although  it  is  Christ's  command 
to  his  ministers  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  ; 
and  in  the  first  churches  of  Christ  the  apostles  would  allow 
no  restrictions  upon  their  preaching,  and  even  private 
Christians  went  every  where  preaching  the  word ;  any 
Anglican  minister  who  should  preach  Christ  in  any  igno- 
rant or  vicious  town  or  village  without  the  license  of  the 
bishop,  would  be  punishable  by  law.*  Incumbents  as  well 
as  curates  are  thus  hindered  from  preaching  the  Gospel. 
Multitudes  of  pious  men,  who  might  preach  Christ  iu 
thousands  of  parishes,  are  confined  to  their  own  little  con- 
gregations, leaving  all  the  villages  around  them  in  ignor- 
ance, because  they  have  no  license.  Even  the  bishop's 
license  would  not  set  them  free  ;  for  no  Anglican  minister 
may  preach  in  another  man's  parish  without  his  consent  ; 
and  as  ungodly  incumbents  never  consent  that  evangelical 
ministers  should  disturb  them  by  their  doctrines  of  grace, 
the  zealous  ministers  of  the  Establishment  are  shut  up  to 
their  own  little  cures.  Even  in  their  own  parishes  all 
meetings  for  worship  in  private  houses  are  condemned  by 
canon  71.  And,  as  though  these  rules  were  not  sufficient- 
ly repressive  of  evangelical  zeal  in  Anglican  ministers,  the 
52  George  III.  cap.  155,  prohibits  all  religious  assemblies 
in  private  houses  of  more  than  twenty  persons  besides  the 
family  without  a  magistrate's  license  ;  and  the  liberty  of 
taking  out  this  license  has  been  held  to  belong  to  dissenters 
alone.  Thus  the  union  first  secures  by  patronage  that  a 
majority  of  parochial  ministers  shall  be  worldly  men,  who 


342       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

do  not  know  how  to  guide  their  people  to  salvation  ;  and 
then,  having  cursed  these  parishes  with  spiritual  darkness, 
prohibits  the  evangeUcal  minority  from  doing  any  thing  to 
enlighten  them. 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  having  claimed  from  all  believ- 
ers to  express  their  faith  in  him  before  the  world,  without 
which  confession  their  cowardice  would  prove  them  to  be 
no  believers,  required  them  to  be  baptized,  baptism  being 
the  appointed  mode  of  professing  their  faith.  Repentance 
and  faith  are,  therefore,  the  essential  prerequisites  to  bap- 
tism. When  our  Lord  sent  out  his  disciples  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  he  said  to  them,  "  He  that  helieveth,  and  is  bap- 
tized, shall  be  saved. ^'  ^  They  must  first  believe,  and  then 
profess  their  faith  by  baptism.  When  the  Jewish  multi- 
tude at  Pentecost  believed,  upon  the  preaching  of  the  apos- 
tles, that  Jesus  was  the  Christ,  and  asked,  "  What  shall 
we  do?"  Peter  answered,  "- IR^epent,  and  be  baptized T"^ 
Repentance,  therefore,  must  precede  baptism.  And  when 
the  eunuch,  to  whom  Philip  was  sent  in  the  wilderness, 
believed  that  Jesus  was  Christ,  and  said  to  Philip,  "  See, 
here  is  water,  what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized  ?" 
Philip  said,  "  If  thou  believest  ivith  all  thy  heart,  thou 
may  est  r  ^  Thus  making  faith  the  condition  of  baptism. 
Paul  was  converted  first  and  then  baptized.^  Cornelius 
and  his  friends  first  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  then 
were  baptized.^  Lydia  of  Thyatira  received  the  word  of 
God,  and  was  baptized.^  The  jailer's  faith,  likewise,  pre- 
ceded his  baptism.''  And  in  no  instance  do  we  read  in  the 
New  Testament  of  any  person  being  baptized  till  he  had 
previously  received  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  Repentance 
and  faith,  therefore,  must  precede  baptism ;  and  if  the 
infants  of  believers  are  to  be  baptized,  as  is  generally 
believed,  it  must  be  on  the  supposition  that  God  accepts 
them  as  penitent  believers,  through  the  faith  and  the  prayer 
of  their  parents. 

But  the  practice  of  the  Establishment  is  to  baptize  all 

1  Mark  xvi.  16.  ^  ^^ts  ii.  38.  ^  Acts  viii.  37. 

"»  Acts  ix.  1-18.  s  Acts  X.  44-47.      ^  Acts  xvi.  14,  15. 

'  Acts  xvi.  30-34. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       343 

the  children  of  the  several  parishes  without  any  inquiry 
into  the  faith  of  the  parents,  or  any  rational  prospect  that 
they  will  receive  a  religious  education.  By  the  sixty- 
eighth  canon,  a  minister  who  refuses  to  baptize  any  child 
who  is  brought  to  him  to  the  church  for  that  purpose,  is 
liable  to  suspension  for  three  months.  Thus,  though  pa- 
rents and  sponsors  are  alike  ungodly,  and  general  experience 
proves  that  their  children  will  grow  up  ungodly  too,  the 
Anglican  m.inister  must  baptize  them,  and  thank  God  that 
he  has  regenerated  them  with  his  Holy  Spirit.  Thus  the 
conditions  of  baptism  are  generally  violated,  the  ends  of  it 
are  frustrated,  the  nature  of  it  is  forgotten  ;  the  baptized 
millions  of  England  have  made  no  profession  of  faith,  they 
were  baptized  without  their  consent — baptized  atheists  ; 
deists  and  profligates  dishonor  the  Christian  name  ;  the 
churches  of  Christ,  which  ought  to  be  composed  of  saints 
and  faithful  brethren,  as  the  churches  of  Pvome  and  Corinth, 
of  Thessalonica,  Philippi,  and  Colosse  were,  are  churches 
of  persons  ignorant  of  the  Gospel  a*nd  unconcerned  about 
their  salvation ;  ^  they  ought  to  be  separate  from  the  world ;  ^ 
but  they  are  of  the  world.  Converted  persons  and  uncon- 
verted, believers  and  unbelievers,  are  confounded  in  one 
undistinguishable  mass,  and  evangelical  ministers  are  agents 
in  accomplishing  the  fatal  amalgamation. 

Next  comes  the  ceremony  of  confirmation.  At  the  bap- 
tismi  of  an  infant  the  minister,  by  order  of  the  State,  directs 
sponsors  to  "bring  the  child  to  be  confirmed  ''  so  soon  as  he 
can  say  the  creed,  the  Lord's  prayer,  and  the  ten  com- 
mandments in  the  vulgar  tongue,  and  is  further  instructed 
in  the  church  catechism." 

Those  conditions  being  fulfilled,  the  minister  must  for- 
ward all  the  children  of  the  parish  to  the  bishop,  with  his 
certificate  of  fitness  for  the  rite.  And  being  thus  certified 
by  the  minister  that  the  child  can  say  the  creed,  &c.,  the 
bishop  is  ordered  by  the  State  to  say  of  the  whole  crowd  of 
children  who  there  and  then  profess  to  take  upon  them- 
selves the  baptismal  vows,  that  God  has  "  vouchsafed  to 

1  Rom.  i.  7  ;   1  Cor.  i.  2 ;  Phil.  i.  1  ;  Col.  i.  2 ;   1  Thess.  i.  1-10. 

2  John  XV.  19;  Acts  v.  13,  14;   1  Cor.  v.  13 ;  2  Cor.  vi.  14. 


344        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

regenerate  them  by  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  has 
given  unto  them  forgiveness  of  their  sins." 

After  confirmation;  each  person  not  convicted  of  heresy 
or  immoraHty  has  a  legal  right  to  attend  the  Lord's  Supper 
at  his  parish  church.  By  1  Edward  VI.  cap.  1,  "The 
minister  shall  not,  without  a  lawful  cause,  deny  the  same 
(the  sacrament)  to  any  person  that  will  devoutly  and  hum- 
bly desire  it." 

To  have  been  at  a  card-party  on  the  previous  Monday, 
at  a  ball  on  Tuesday,  at  the  race-course  on  Wednesday, 
and  at  the  theater  on  Thursday,  to  have  spent  Friday  in 
talking  scandal,  and  to  have  devoted  Saturday  to  some 
irreligious  novel,  would  be  no  legal  disqualification  for  the 
reception  of  the  Lord's  Supper  on  the  following  Sunday. 
No  proofs  of  a  worldly  temper,  no  indolent  self-indulgence, 
and  no  neglect  of  prayer,  would  affect  the  parishioner's 
statutory  right  to  force  his  way  to  the  Lord's  table.  The 
minister  is  obliged  by  law  to  administer  to  him  the  ordi- 
nance, the  church  is  forced  by  law  to  receive  him  into  com- 
mmiion  with  them.  None  but  believers  are  invited  by  our 
Lord  to  his  table,  ^  and  the  churches  are  commanded  to 
separate  themselves  from  evil  men  :  ^  but  the  statute  mter- 
poses,  and  both  the  minister  and  the  church  must  admit 
all  who  will  to  the  sacred  feast. 

Those  who  eat  and  drink  unworthily,  instead  of  securing 
a  blessing,  eat  and  drink  damnation  to  themselves,  not  dis- 
cerning the  Lord's  body  (1  Cor.  xi.  29),  and  the  Anglican 
churches  do  nothing  to  prevent  this.  Were  irreligious  per- 
sons excluded  from  the  Lord's  Supper,  it  might  excite  con- 
science and  make  them  see  that  they  are  in  danger  ;  but 
their  admission  to  the  table  is  calculated  to  stupefy  and  to 
deceive  them,  making  them  say,  "Peace!  peace!"  when 
there  is  no  peace.  Those  who  eat  and  drink  at  the  Lord's 
table  profess  thereby  to  receive  Christ  by  faith  as  their 
Saviour  ;  and  the  Anglican  Churches  allow  those  to  dis- 
honor Christ  by  this  profession  who  are  living  frivolous, 

^  Matt.  xxvi.  26  ;   1  Cor.  xi.  27-29. 

2  Rom.  xvi.  17;  1  Cor.  v.  11-13;  2  Cor.  iv.  14-18;  2  Thess. 
iii.  6.  14. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.      345 

dissipated,  ungodly  lives,  without  any  symptoms  of  devoted, 
ness  or  of  faith.  The  Lord's  Supper  was  meant  to  be  a 
gathering  of  the  church,  by  which  Christians  may  be 
strengthened  and  refreshed  by  sympathy  with  each  other  ; 
but  in  the  Anglican  Churches  it  is  a  gathering  of  all  kinds 
of  persons,  and  many  of  them  have  no  more  knowledge  of 
each  other  than  they  have  of  foreigners.  The  Lord's  Sup- 
per in  parish-churches  is  no  title  to  miutual  confidence,  no 
pledge  of  brotherly  regard.  It  is  no  meeting  of  the  church, 
but  often  an  unhallowed  association  of  the  church  and  of 
the  world.  Churches  which  fall  into  coldness  and  allow 
ungodly  persons  to  remain  among  their  members  have 
received  solemn  warnings  and  severe  threatenings  from 
Christ.^  How  many  parochial  Anglican  Churches  are 
now  exposed  to  these  threatenings  ?  And  this  corrupt 
condition  of  the  churches,  this  admixture  of  the  church 
and  the  world,  by  which  religion  is  misrepresented,  our 
Lord  is  dishonored,  and  multitudes  are  injured,  is  sanctioned 
by  evangelical  ministers  who  uphold  tfie  system  by  adhering 
to  it.  Verbal  protests  are  inadequate.  They  belong  to  it, 
they  officiate  in  it,  their  characters  and  their  labors  support 
it  ;  and  they  must  be  held  in  a  high  degree  responsible  for 
the  evils  which  they  chiefly  perpetuate.  At  this  moment 
of  what  members  are  the  Anglican  Churches  composed  ? 
The  men  who  devote  their  time  and  thought  to  betting  at 
Newmarket  and  Doncaster,  those  who  haunt  the  gambling- 
houses  of  London,  those  who  divide  their  time  between  the 
pleasures  of  the  chase  and  of  the  table,  are  members  of 
churches  ;  the  theaters  and  the  opera-house,  notwithstand- 
ing that  they  are  the  haunts  of  vice  and  schools  of  irreligion, 
are  filled  with  church  members.  The  crowds  who  throng 
the  Sunday  trains  and  the  Sunday  steamboats,  the  numbers 
who  sell  and  buy  on  the  Lord's  Day,  the  emaciated  and 
ragged  community  of  gin-drinkers,  the  rabble  of  the  lowest 
alleys  of  London,  Liverpool,  and  Manchester  ;  the  myriads 
who  admire  the  "  Dispatch,"  or  love  the  pollution  of  the 
worst  novels,  all  who  are  worthless,  ignorant,  and  depraved, 
in  the  community,  baptized  in  childhood,  and  not  convicted 
^  Rev.  ii.  4,  5,  14-16,  20-23;  iii.  1-3,  15,  16. 


346        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

of  heresy  or  immorality,  are  in  full  communion  with  the 
Anglican  Churches.  They  are  all  described  in  the  cate- 
chism as  "  members  of  Christ,  children  of  God,  and  in- 
heritors of  the  kingdom  of  heaven;"  all  have  a  right  to 
introduce  their  children  into  the  churches  by  baptism,  and 
then  they  and  their  children,  as  members  of  Christ,  children 
of  God,  and  inheritors  of  heaven,  have  a  legal  right  to 
participate  in  the  Lord's  Supper  as  guests  at  Christ's  table 
with  his  saints. 

If  our  Lord  manifested  so  much  indignation  when  the 
material  temple  was  desecrated  by  traders,^  how  does  he 
regard  this  corruption  within  his  churches  '?  If  St.  Paul 
said  to  the  church  of  Corinth,  "  Ye  are  the  temple  of  God, 
if  any  man  defile  the  temple  of  God  him  shall  God  de- 
stroy,''^  what  judgm&nt  does  our  Lord  pronounce  on  those 
who,  by  abetting  and  perpetuating  this  contempt  of  Chris- 
tian disciphne,  by  adherence  to  this  abuse  of  the  ordinances 
of  Christ,  continue  to  defile  his  churches  ? 

When  the  parish  minister  has  thus  permitted  persons 
of  all  sorts  to  make  their  children  members  of  his  church, 
and  themselves,  if  they  will,  to  participate  in  the  Lord's 
Supper,  he  is  at  length  called  to  commit  their  bodies  to  the 
grave  when  they  are  removed  by  death.  Many  of  them 
grieved  his  heart  by  their  open  irreligion :  they  were  covet- 
ous, they  were  quarrelsome,  they  were  drunken ;  they  broke 
the  Sabbath,  they  neglected  public  and  social  worship,  they 
were  profane  in  their  language,  they  died  as  they  lived, 
testifying  neither  repentance  nor  faith ;  and  over  each  who 
is  brought  to  the  grave,  he,  by  order  of  the  State,  must  say, 
"  It  hath  pleased  Almighty  God,  of  his  great  mercy,  to  take 
unto  himself  the  soul  of  our  dear  brother  here  departed.  .  .  . 
Almighty  God,  we  give  thee  hearty  thanks,  for  that  it  has 
pleased  thee  to  deliver  this  our  brother  out  of  the  miseries 
of  this  sinful  world."  The  lost  soul  is  gone  to  perdition, 
and  the  minister  thanks  God  that  it  has  gone  to  God.  If 
the  by-standers  infer  from  this  that  they  also  shall  go  to 
God  when  they  die,  and  that  death  will  be  their  release 
also  from  misery,  whose  fault  is  this  ?      If  they  perish  in 

^  John  ii.  13;  Matt.  xxi.  12.  "-  \  Cor.  iii.  16,  17. 


DISCirLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.      347 

their  sins,  is  the  minister  without  blame  whose  words  de- 
ceived and  hardened  them  ?  The  evangehcal  minister  of 
an  AngHcan  Church  is  thus  placed  in  a  miserable  position. 
He  must  not  preach  Christ  in  private  houses,  nor  enter  into 
any  neighboring  parish  where  an  ungodly  minister  is  lead- 
ing the  people  to  destruction  ;  he  must  baptize  the  infants 
of  ungodly  persons  ;  he  must  teach  his  parishioners,  against 
all  observation,  that  these  infants  are  members  of  Christ, 
children  of  God,  and  inheritors  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ; 
he  must  take  unregenerate  young  persons  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  or  sixteen  to  be  pronounced  regenerate  by  the  bishop  ; 
he  must  admit  all  sorts  of  persons  to  the  Lord's  table,  though 
they  are  not  invited  by  Christ ;  and  must  finally,  when  they 
die,  express  his  thanks  to  God  that  they  are  taken  to  glory, 
when  he  has  every  reason  to  think  that  they  are  lost  for- 
ever. 

Although  the  ministers  of  proprietary  chapels  are  not 
placed  under  this  legal  compulsion  to  desecrate  Christ's 
ordinances,  yet,  by  adhering  to  the  Establishment,  they 
sanction  and  support  the  whole  system  ;  and  must  be 
responsible  for  that  corrupt  union  of  the  church  and  the 
world  through  which  Christ  is  dishonored  and  souls  are 
ruined. 

3.  Chicrch  Censures  and  Penalties. — The  welfare  of 
a  Christian  church  depends  in  a  great  measure  on  the 
liberty  of  action  afforded  to  its  fervent  members,  and  on 
the  correction  or  removal  of  those  who  are  inconsistent. 
Let  us  now  consider  how  far  the  Anglican  system  under 
the  union  accomplishes  these  two  objects. 

Under  the  union,  the  following  offenses  are  punishable 
by  law — simony,  immorality,  heresy,  schism,  refusal  to 
perform  ministerial  acts,  and  the  performance  of  ministerial 
acts  without  authority.      I  will  notice  these  in  order. 

Simony. — Simony  is  termed  by  the  fortieth  canon  a 
"  detestable  sin."  Buying  and  selling  of  spiritual  and 
ecclesiastical  functions,  offices,  promotions,  dignities,  and 
livings,  are  there  said  to  be  "  execrable  before  God,"  on 
which  account  the  canon  enjoins  that  a  clergyman,  on 
being  admitted  to  any  ecclesiastical  office  or  living,  shall 


348        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

swear  that  he  has  made  no  siinoiiiacal  payment  or  contract 
respecting  it.  The  sale,  therefore,  or  purchase  of  a  vacant 
hving,  is  illegal  ;  but  the  application  of  the  canon  is  re- 
stricted to  livings  which  are  vacant.  Presentations  are 
constantly  bought  and  sold  like  all  other  property.  The 
salary  of  the  pastor  of  an  Anglican  Church  is  sold  by  con- 
tract or  by  pubHc  auction.  A  man  may  buy  it  for  himself 
or  for  his  son,  for  his  friend  or  for  his  customer.  The  best 
prices  are  always  given  for  the  pastoral  salary  of  those 
churches  in  which  the  number  of  members  is  the  smallest 
and  the  income  the  largest ;  the  age  of  the  existing  pastor 
being  always  taken  into  the  account.  When  the  salary  is 
bought,  the  purchaser  has  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  pas- 
toral charge  of  the  congregation  for  any  friend  who  may 
have  the  minimum  of  knowledge  and  of  character  required 
by  law.  Many  churches  are  thus  placed  under  pastors  of 
very  small  attainments,  without  the  wishes  of  the  church 
being  any  more  considered  by  the  seller  and  the  buyer  of 
the  pastor's  salary  than  the  wishes  of  the  stock  upon  a  farm 
are  considered  in  letting  a  farm,  or  the  wishes  of  the  slaves 
in  the  sale  and  purchase  of  an  estate  in  Cuba.^ 

^  The  following  advertisements,  extracted  from  The  Record  news- 
paper, in  the  single  month  of  October  last,  show  in  what  manner 
this  sale  and  purchase  of  the  incomes  of  pastors,  and  effectively  ot 
the  pastoral  office,  is  conducted  in  the  Establishment : — 

ESSEX. ADVOWSON   AND    RECTORY    OF    MAGDALEN    LAVER. 

Messrs.  Ellis  and  Son  arc  directed  to  sell  by  auction,  at  Gar- 
RA way's,  on  Thursday,  October  12,  at  twelve  o'clock  (unless  pre- 
viously disposed  of  by  private  contract),  the  valuable  Advowson  and 
NEXT  Presentation  to  the  Rectory  of  Magdalen  Laver,  situate 
in  a  pleasant  district,  about  twenty-six  miles  fi-ora  London,  six  from 
Epping,  and  six  from  the  Harlow  station.  The  tithes  have  been 
commuted  at  310/.  per  annum.  The  glebe  consists  of  twenty-eight 
acres  of  land,  of  the  annual  value  of  45/.  The  parsonage  is  at  pres- 
ent out  of  repair,  but  a  considerable  sum  has  accumulated  for  the 
repair  of  it.  The  population  is  about  210.  The  present  incumbent 
is  in  his  seventy-fourth  year. 

Printed  particulars  may  be  had  at  the  George  Inn,  Harlow ;  of 
Messrs.  Hindman  and  Howard,  solicitors,  Basinghall-street ;  at  Gar- 
raway's  ;  and  of  Messrs.  Ellis  and  Son,  auctioneers  and  estate  agents, 
36  Fenchurch-street. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       349 

The  relation  of  a  pastor  to  the  church  is  most  solemn  : 
"  Take  heed  to  yourselves,''  said  Paul  to  the  pastors  of  the 

ADVOWSON. KENT. 

To  be  DISPOSED  OF,  the  next  Presentation  to  a  Vicarage,  eli- 
gibly situated  between  Ashford  and  Canterbury,  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  a  station  on  the  South-E astern  and  Dover  Railway,  and  two 
hours  and  a  half  from  London.  Net  income  700/.  per  annum.  The 
incumbent  sixty-five  years  of  age.  There  is  an  excellent  residence, 
with  gardens  and  suitable  offices,  and  thirty  acres  of  glebe. 

For  further  particulars  and  price  apply  to  Messrs.  Baker  and  Co., 
solicitors.  No.  52  Lincoln's-inn-fields. 

ADVOWSON   FOR   SALE. 

The  Patron  of  a  Vicarage  in  a  southern  county,  of  evangelical 
sentiments,  is  anxious  to  find  a  Purchaser  for  the  Advowson,  of 
similar  views.  The  income  exceeds  1000/.  per  annum.  There  is 
an  excellent  house  for  a  large  family,  standing  in  its  own  grounds, 
part  of  which  are  glebe  and  part  freehold,  the  property  of  the  patron, 
which  may  be  purchased  if  required. 

For  further  particulars  apply,  by  letter  (prepaid),  to  A.  Z.,  at  the 
office  of  the  Record. 

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. PERPETUAL  ADVOWSON  AND  NEXT  PRESENTA- 
TION  TO   THE    VICARAGE    OF    LITTLE    ADDINGTON. 

Messrs.  Driver  are  instructed  by  the  Trustees  of  the  late  J.  C. 
Powell,  Esq.,  to  offer  to  public  competition,  at  the  Auction  Mart, 
on  Tuesday,  the  14th  of  November,  at  twelve,  the  very  desirable  and 
valuable  Advowson  and  Right  of  next  Presentation  to  the  Vicar- 
age of  Little  Addington,  in  the  hundred  of  Huxloe,  a  very  delight- 
ful village,  most  conveniently  situate,  two  miles  from  Irthlingborough, 
four  from  Higham  Ferrars,  five  from  Thrapston,  and  seven  from 
Wellingborough,  in  the  county  of  Northampton ;  comprising  a  vicar- 
age-house, garden,  and  paddock,  and  a  very  valuable  parcel  of  glebe 
land  and  allotments,  lying  within  a  ring-fence,  containing  about  280 
acres,  with  desirable  homesteads,  most  eligibly  situate,  near  the  vil- 
lage, with  live  subdivision  quick  fences,  and  in  the  respective  occu- 
pations of  Mr.  John  Abbott,  William  Brawn,  and  Samuel  Wright ; 
of  the  value  together  of  about  415/.  per  annum,  subject  to  the  life  of 
the  present  incumbent,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Sanderson,  aged  sixty-three 
years.     The  population  last  census  was  299. 

ADVOWSON. 

Perpetual  Patronage  and  Right  of  Presentation  to  oe  dis- 
posed OF,  subject  to  the  life  of  an  incumbent,  now  sixty-eight  years. 
The  benefice  consists  of  an  excellent  rectory-house,  lately  built  at  a 
considerable  expense ;  abounding  w^ith  conveniences,  and  capitally- 
fitted,  good  out-offices,  pleasure-grounds,  garden.  &e.,  farm-yard,  and 


350        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

Ephesian  church,  "  mul  to  all  the  Jiock  over  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  has  made  you  eniaKOTrovg,  bishops  (or  pas- 
tors), to  feed  the  church  of  God.''  ^  "  Take  heed  unto 
thyself"  he  added  to  his  friend  Timothy,  "  and  unto  the 
doctrine  ;  continue  in  them  :  for  in  doing  this  thou  shalt 
both  save  thyself  and  them  that  hear  thee'"^  And  pas- 
tors and  teachers  have  been  appointed  by  Christ  in  his 
church,  ''for  the  'perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of 
the  mhiistry,  fo-r  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ.''  ^ 
Yet  this  solemn  office  is  determined  in  hundreds  of  in- 
stances in  the  EstabUshment  by  the  mere  sale  and  pur- 
forty  acres  glebe.  The  tithes  are  commuted.  Annual  value  upward 
of  600/.  per  annum,  independent  of  surplice-fees,  and  is  well  situated 
in  a  pleasant  and  luxuriant  country,  four  miles  from  a  large  town, 
to  which  there  is  railway  conveyance. 

ADVOWSON. 
To   BE    SOLD,   BY   PRIVATE    CONTRACT,   the   PeRPETUAL   AdVOWSON 

of  the  Rectory  of  Chipstable,  in  the  county  of  Somerset.  The 
gross  annual  rent-charge  in  lieu  of  tithe  amounts  to  28 IZ.,  and  the 
annual  value  of  the  glebe  as  at  present  let  and  occupied,  including 
the  parsonage-house,  garden,  and  outbuildings,  to  about  100/.  After 
deducting  rates  and  taxes,  the  net  annual  value  of  the  living  may  be 
estimated  at  upward  of  300/.  The  present  incumbent  was  born  in 
the  year  1785.  Chipstable  is  a  rural  parish,  lying  about  three  miles 
west  of  Wiveliscombe,  and  contains  2252  acres,  and  rather  less  than 
400  inhabitants.  The  rectory-house  (upon  which  several  hundred 
pounds  have  been  lately  expended  in  putting  it  into  a  complete  state 
of  repair)  is  pleasantly  situated,  about  a  mile  from  the  tui-npike-road 
leading  from  Taunton  to  Tiverton  through  Bampton,  about  three 
miles  from  Wiveliscombe,  ten  from  the  Wellington  station  of  the 
Bristol  and  Exeter  railway,  and  ten  from  Dulverton. 

For  Sale  by  Auction,  by  Messrs.  Cobb,  at  the  Auction  Mart, 
London,  on  Tuesday,  the  21st  day  of  November,  1848,  at  twelve 
o'clock,  the  next  Presentation  to  the  Rectory  of  the  United 
Parishes  of  Milton  Damerel  and  Cookbury,  in  the  county  of 
Devon,  distant  from  Holsworthy  six  miles,  Torington  nine  miles, 
and  Bideford  twelve  miles.  The  net  annual  income  from  the  living, 
derived  from  tithe,  rent-charges,  and  glebe-lands,  comprising  110a. 
3r.  29p.,  may  be  safely  estimated  at  450/.  The  present  incumbent 
is  seventy-seven  years  of  age.  The  rectory-house  is  pleasantly  situ- 
ated, adjoining  the  turnpike-road  from  Launeeston  to  Bideford,  over 
which  a  mail  coach  passes,  and  there  are  two  post  deliveries  daily. 

^  Acts  XX.  28.  2  1  xim.  iv.  16.  ^  Eph.  iv.  12. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       351 

chase  of  the  pastor's  salary  !  Although  the  Church  of 
England,  by  the  fortieth  canon,  recognizes  the  sale  and 
purchase  of  the  pastoral  office  to  be  "  detestable"  and  "  ex- 
ecrable," yet  hundreds  of  livings  are  annually  bought  and 
sold,  by  which  the  pastoral  office  is  secured  to  the  pur- 
chasers or  their  friends.  Incompetent  and  unconverted 
men  thus  obtain  a  spiritual  jurisdiction  over  churches,  by 
M^hich  they  can  exclude  from  them  every  other  Anglican 
minister,  thus  confining  them  to  their  own  worthless  and 
mischievous  ministrations.  With  the  dissolution  of  the 
union  this  abuse  will  cease  ;  for  such  ministers  will  never 
be  maintained  by  the  voluntary  offerings  of  the  churches. 
Meanwhile,  ought  the  churches  to  endure  these  money 
bargains  now  ?  this  purchase  and  sale  of  souls  ?  Ought 
Christian  men,  by  remaining  in  the  Establishment,  to  give 
it  their  sanction  and  support  ? 

Iinmorality. — The  word  of  God  declares  that  a  bishop, 
that  is,  a  pastor  of  a  church,  must  be  blameless,  not  given 
to  wine,  not  given  to  filthy  lucre,*  but  sober,  just,  holy, 
and  temperate.  (1  Tim.  iii.  1-7;  Tit.  i.  5-9.)  Immoral 
ministers  are  to  be  shunned  by  each  Christian,  and  excom- 
municated by  the  church.  (1  Cor.  v.  11—13;  2  Thess. 
iii.  6.)  Every  Anglican  church  ought,  therefore,  to  put 
away  from  them  each  immoral  pastor.  The  churches  do, 
indeed,  recognize  this  duty.  For  in  the  twenty-sixth  article 
we  read,  "  It  appertaineth  to  the  discipline  of  the  church 
that  inquiry  be  made  of  evil  ministers  ;  that  they  be  ac- 
cused by  those  that  have  knowledge  of  their  offenses,  and 
finally,  being  found  guilty  by  just  judgment,  be  deposed." 
But  their  practice  differs  from  their  profession.  The  State 
and  the  Convocation  together  have  deprived  them  of  all 
power  to  remove  their  pastors,  and  have  committed  the 
power  to  a  civilian  appointed  by  the  Crown  to  preside  over 
the  court  of  Arches.  Immoral  clergymen,  therefore,  if 
brought  to  account  at  all,  must  be  tried  before  the  judge, 
unless  they  are  brought  before  the  bishop  himself  by  the 
new  Correction  of  Clerks'  bill. 

Several  decisions  of  the  court  of  Arches  have  lately  been 
before  the  public,  which  show  to  what  an  extent  this  court, 


352        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

to  which  the  AngUcan  Churches  have  resigned  their  right 
of  disciphne,  protects  them  from  immoral  pastors.  In  the 
case  of  Brooks  v.  Cresswell,  the  judge,  Sir  H.  J.  Fust, 
said  :  *'  He  was  afraid  he  must  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
Mr.  Cresswell  had  been  in  the  habit  of  frequenting  public 
houses,  of  drinking  on  some  occasions  to  excess,  of  sitting 
there  smoking  his  pipe,  and  drinking  half-and-half,  that  he 
was  guilty  of  dropping  out  an  oath,  and  on  some  occasions 
of  using  obscene  expressions.  Recollecting  that  he  had 
already  been  suspended  during  the  pendency  of  this  suit,  a 
period  of  eighteen  months,  he  was  of  opinion,  that  if  the 
court  pronounced  a  further  suspension  of  eighteen  months, 
it  would  be  but  such  a  censure  as  the  case  required."^ 

Thus  a  pastor  who,  according  to  scriptural  injunction, 
ought  to  have  been  excommunicated  by  the  church,  was 
permitted  to  resume  his  pastoral  charge  of  1200  souls 
after  a  suspension  of  eighteen  months,  though  he  was  con- 
victed of  having  been  an  obscene  drunkard  ;  and  provided 
that  he  was  afterward  more  prudently  vicious,  the  church 
could  do  nothing  to  remove  him. 

The  Times  of  March  14,  1846,  reported  that  Mr. 
Hodgson,  vicar  of  Kington,  &c.,  was  charged  with  grossly 
immoral  conduct.  Although  the  proof  was  both  circum- 
stantial and  direct,  the  judge  refused  to  credit  the  witnesses 
on  their  oaths  ;  upon  which  The  Time?,  made  the  follow- 
ing remarks  :— r 

"  The  judge  refused  to  credit  the  witnesses  on  their  oaths. 
The  fault  of  the  witnesses  was,  in  his  opinion,  their  perfect 
concordance.  Their  testimony  wore  the  air  of  a  preconcerted 
scheme.  Is  there  any  precedent  in  any  court  of  justice,  in 
any  country  of  the  world,  where  criminal  jurisprudence  is 
carried  on  under  fixed  rules  of  procedure,  where  the  concur- 
rent testimony  of  three  or  four  witnesses  has  been  positively 
rejected,  and  held  for  naught,  just  on  the  very  ground  that  it 
is  concurrent?  We  call  on  the  church  herself  to  vindicate 
her  purity,  and  to  lop  off  from  her  still  sacred  body  her 
proftine  and  infamous  members.  The  misjudging  leniency 
.■sometimes  apparent  in  the  judgments  of  Sir  H.  J.  F.  is 
directly  calculated  to  produce  an  impression  on  the  publio 
1  Record,  Monday,  Feb.  16,  1846. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       353 

mind  that  the  spu'itual  body  enjoys  an  indulgence  in  sin  and 
an  immunity  from  punishment  far  beyond  what  is  allowed  to 
the  laity.  When  the  poor  parishioner  hears  of  the  rector 
of  his  parish  being  mulct  in  a  small  fine  (temporary  suspen- 
sion is  nothing  more),  or  perhaps  acquitted  altogether  of 
heinous  crimes  which  he  has  himself  seen  perpetrated  in  the 
light  of  day,  he  can  not  feel  satisfied  that  the  law  is  impartial 
or  that  the  church  is  pure.  When  such  men  as  a  Day,  a 
Heathcote,  a  Loftus,  and  a  Cresswell,  are  suffered  to  remain 
in  the  ministry,  who  can  wonder  that  dissent  increases,  or 
that  the  people  are  vicious?" 

The  expense  attending  suits  in  the  court  of  Arches,  and 
the  difficulty  of  securing  the  punishment  of  clerical  offend- 
ers, seems  often  to  give  such  offenders  impunity  in  their 
crimes.  In  the  spring  assizes  of  1846,  Dr.  B.  of  B.,  near 
W.,  was  tried  by  Mr.  Baron  Parke  on  the  charge  of  adul- 
tery. The  jury  found  him  guilty,  and  gave  the  plaintiff 
250/.  damages  ;  but  he  remains  still,  as  far  as  I  know,  the 
unmolested  pastor  of  the  parish.  The  civil  court  condemned 
him   as   an   adulterer,    the   church  retained  him   as  their 

pastor.      Mr.  M.,  incumbent  of ,  near  the  town  of  P., 

who  shamelessly  avowed  his  vicious  habits  before  the  public, 
still  continues  the  non-resident  pastor  to  the  same  church, 
and,  after  paying  a  small  stipend  to  a  resident  curate,  is 
allowed  to  spend  his  large  ecclesiastical  income  in  idleness 
and  vice  at  Paris,  Milan,  Vienna,  or  wherever  he  will. 

It  is  thus  that  the  State  throws  its  shield  over  unworthy 
pastors.  From  any  free  church  a  pastor  contacted  of  im- 
morality would  be  dismissed  ;  but  under  the  protection  of 
the  State  such  pastors  in  the  Establishment  can  generally 
defy  censure.  First,  the  State  has  settled  that  unless  his 
vices  can  be  legally  proved,  however  notorious  they  may 
be,  he  must  remain  unmolested  ;  and,  secondly,  if  they  are 
capable  of  legal  proof,  the  State  has  committed  the  punish- 
ment of  them  to  the  discretion  of  a  lawyer  who  may  know 
nothing  of  the  qualifications  which  Christ  requires  in  the 
pastor  of  a  church,  and  who  may  have  much  more  sym- 
pathy with  the  offending  pastor  than  with  the  injured 
church.     The  result  is,  that  throughout  10,500  benefices, 


354       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

pastors  whose  unfitness  for  their  office  is  notorious,  but  who 
are  prudent  in  their  immorality,  escape  official  censure, 
and  remain  the  worthless  pastors  of  degraded  or  indignant 
churches.  For  this  scandal  evangelical  men  who  adhere 
to  the  Establishment  are  responsible. 

The  following  case  is  reported  in  The  Record  of  Oct. 
19,  1848  : — 

*'  Last  week  Mr.  Commissioner  Smith  presided  at  the 
Gainsborough  county  court,  when  the  Rev.  F.  Sturmer,  in- 
solvent rector  of  Heapham,  presented  himself  for  examination. 
His  liabilities  amounted  to  2200L,  and  the  only  sum  given  up 
was  about  14Z.  Mr.  Andrews  appeared  to  oppose  on  behalf 
of  a  large  number  of  creditors,  and  contended  that  the  reck- 
less way  in  which  the  debts  had  been  contracted  disentitled 
the  insolvent  to  the  protection  of  the  court.  He  might  here 
say  that  the  insolvent  had  before  taken  the  benefit  of  the  act 
for  3000Z.  In  this  instance  he  was  instructed  to  state,  that 
all  the  trade  debts  had  been  incurred  within  two  or  three 
years,  and  without  any  reasonable  prospect  of  being  able  to 
defray  them.  The  debts  amounted  to  llOOZ.,  and  were  con 
tracted  in  1846,  1847,  and  1848,  when,  according  to  his  own 
statement,  his  income  was  245L,  and  the  occupation  of  land 
would  increase  it  to  290^.  He  gave  the  insolvent  no  credit 
for  honesty  in  the  proposal  to  pay  50L  yearly,  and  ascribed  it 
merely  to  the  good  advice  and  prudence  of  his  solicitor.  For 
five  years  his  income  had  been  1106Z.,  or  221Z.  yearly;  his  ex- 
penditure 1762^,  or  352Z.  yearly,  being  132Z.  a  year  more  than 
his  income.  And  while  these  debts  were  being  contracted,  he 
was  under  securities  by  which  he  knew  that  the  goods  he 
obtained  might  be  swept  off  at  any  time  as  eventually  they 
were.  The  judge  said,  it  appeared  to  him  that  lOOZ.  was 
only  a  fair  sum  to  set  aside  for  the  benefit  of  the  creditors. 
At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Huddlestone,  the  rev.  insolvent 
retired  with  him,  and,  at  the  advice  of  his  legal  adviser, 
agreed  to  offer  the  lOOZ.  He  was  proceeding  to  complain  of 
the  way  he  had  been  assailed  by  the  newspapers  in  respect 
to  some  begging  letters,  when  he  was  stopped  by  the  judge, 
who  observed  that  the  best  explanation  would  be  faithfully  to 
carry  out  the  arrangement  made.  He  had  been  living  ex- 
travagantly and  intemperately,  and  his  difficulties  were  the 
consequence  of  that.  His  best  answer  to  any  imputation 
upon  his  honesty  would  be  to  do  the  best  to  pay  the  debts  he 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       355 

had  so  recklessly  incurred.  The  insolvent  said,  he  had  then 
to  pay  431.  a  year  to  Queen  Anne's  Bounty.  The  judge 
wished  to  understand  whether  the  insolvent  proposed  to  pay 
lOOZ.  a  year  to  his  creditors.  The  insolvent  intimated  his 
assent.  Eventually  the  examination  was  adjourned.  [The 
result  is  understood  to  amount  to  a  refusal  of  protection,  and 
that  the  final  examination  of  the  insolvent  will  be  adjourned 
till  he  has  bound  himself  by  bond  to  pay  the  yearly  sum  of 
lOOl.  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors.]" 

In  this  case  all  parties  seemed  satisfied,  if  one  hundred 
pounds  per  annum  out  of  the  living  should  be  set  aside  for 
the  creditors.  No  man  seemed  for  one  moment  to  imagine 
that  the  pastor  was  disqualified  for  his  office  ;  and  provided 
that  he  was  restrained  from  cheating  his  creditors,  the 
commissioner,  the  attorney,  and  the  creditors,  all  took  it 
for  granted  that  he  would  still  retain  his  living  ;  in  other 
words,  would  still  be  the  only  legal  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Heapham,  with  the  right  of  excluding  every  evangelical 
preacher  from  his  pulpit  and  his  parish. 

Heresy. — By  heresy  is  meant  in  the  New  Testament 
discord  and  dissension  raised  by  a  person  or  a  party  within 
a  church  (1  Cor.  xi.  19  ;  Gal.  v.  20  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  1) ;  and 
by  the  word  heretic,  is  meant  a  factious  person  who  creates 
dissension  (Tit.  iii.  10).  But  in  modern  language  a  heretic 
is  one  who  embraces  any  fundamental  error.  According 
to  the  New  Testament,  a  man  who  is  a  heretic  in  this 
sense  ought  to  be  excommunicated,  and  the  church  ought 
to  separate  from  him  as  from  a  person  guilty  of  immorality 
(2  John,  10).  Heretics  are  still  liable  to  severe  treatment 
in  the  Establishment.  By  1  Elizabeth,  cap.  1,  "  All  such 
spiritual  jurisdiction  as  by  any  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical 
power  may  lawfully  be  exercised  for  the  correction  of  all 
manner  of  heresies,  is  for  ever  annexed  to  the  Crown."  ^ 
Heresy  is  a  legal  ground  of  deprivation. ^  A  bishop  may 
pronounce  sentence  upon  a  heretic  :^  and  an  obstinate  here- 
tic being  excommunicated,  is  still  liable  to  be  imprisoned 
by  force  of  the  writ  de  excovfimunicato  cajnendo,  till  he 
make  satisfaction  to  the  church."^     If  in  these  laws  the 

^  Burn,  U.  304.       ^  jb.  ^,  341b,       3  n,.  p.  io5.       "  lb.  p.  307. 


356       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

word  heretic  were  always  taken  for  one  denying  an  essential 
doctrine  of  the  gospel,  they  would  take  the  correction  of 
heresy  from  the  church,  of  which  it  is  a  necessary  function, 
to  give  it  to  the  Crown  and  to  hishops  ;  but,  further,  the 
meaning  which,  if  I  mistake  not,  the  law  attaches  to  the 
term  heretic,  renders  them  intolerant  and  tyrannical.  Any 
doctrine,  I  apprehend,  which  in  the  opinion  of  an  ecclesias- 
tical judge  is  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  "  the  church," 
however  sound  and  scriptural  the  doctrine  may  be,  is  heresy  : 
at  all  events,  all  opinions  which  are  contrary  to  the  doc- 
trine of  "  the  church"  are  treated,  according  to  statute  and 
canon  law,  exactly  as  heresy  is  treated.  The  minister 
who  in  his  preaching  deviates  in  the  slightest  degree  from 
the  doctrine  of  the  prayer-book,  is  treated  by  the  law  as  he 
would  be  if  he  denied  the  deity  of  Christ  or  the  inspiration 
of  the  Bible.  The  punishment  of  a  minister  who  denies 
any  erroneous  doctrine  of  the  prayer-book  is  excommunica- 
tion and  deprivation  ;  an  obstinate  heretic  suffers  nothing 
more.  By  the  fourth  canon,  whoever  affirms  that  the  form 
of  worship  contained  in  the  book  of  common  prayer  con- 
taineth  any  thing  in  it  repugnant  to  Scripture,  is  to  be 
excommunicated.  By  the  eighth  canon,  whoever  affirms 
that  the  forms  of  consecrating  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons, 
contain  any  thing  in  them  repugnant  to  the  word  of  God, 
is  to  be  excommunicated.  Further,  it  is  a  doctrine  of 
ecclesiastical  law  that  an  incumbent  "  speaking  or  preach- 
ing any  thing  in  derogation  of  the  book  of  common  prayer, 
or  using  any  other  rite  or  ceremony,  being  thereof  twice 
convicted,  shall  ipso  facto  be  deprived."^  If,  therefore,  a 
minister  declares  that  the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regenera- 
tion, which  he  holds  to  be  the  doctrine  of  the  prayer-book, 
is  false  and  dangerous ;  or  that  ministers  ought  not  to 
thank  God  for  the  death  of  wicked  parishioners  ;  or  that 
the  bishop  ought  not  to  say  to  each  youth  at  his  ordination, 
"  Receive  thou  the  Holy  Ghost,  whosesoever  sins  thou 
remittest  they  are  remitted  ;"  such  minister  must  be  ex- 
communicated and  deprived. 

The  State  and  the  Convocation   have,    also,   specially 
'  Burn,  vol.  ii.  p.  141*. 


DISCIPLIiNE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       357 

guarded  their  thirty-nine  articles  from  inconvenient  criti- 
cisms. In  the  fifth  canon  we  read,  that  whosoever  shall 
affirm  that  the  thirty-nine  articles  are  in  any  part  super- 
stitious or  erroneous  is  to  be  excommunicated.  The  13th 
Eliz.  cap.  12,  s.  2,  enacts  as  follows:  "If  any  person 
ecclesiastical,  or  who  shall  have  ecclesiastical  living,  shall 
advisedly  maintain  or  affirm  any  doctrine  directly  contrary 
or  repugnant  to  any  of  the  said  articles,  and  being  convened 
before  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  or  ordinary,  shall  persist 
therein,  and  not  revoke  his  error,  ...  he  shall  be  deprived 
of  his  ecclesiastical  promotions."  ^ 

If,  therefore,  any  minister  declare,  against  the  twentieth 
article,  that  the  church  has  not  authority  in  controversies  of 
faith  ;  or,  against  the  twenty-sixth,  that  evil  men  do  not 
minister  by  Christ's  authority,  and  that  Christians  ought 
not  to  continue  under  that  ministry ;  or,  against  the  thirty- 
sixth,  that  the  ordination-service  for  priests  contains  in  it 
expressions  which  are  superstitious  and  ungodly,  he  is  liable 
to  excommunication  and  deprivation.* 

Let  no  one  think  that  these  laws  are  inoperative  because 
few  ministers  are  thus  excommunicated  and  deprived  :  so 
completely  do  they  answer  their  purpose  that  scarcely  any 
Anglican  minister  ventures  on  any  free  examination  of  these 
guarded  writings.  Few  men  will  indulge  in  a  criticism  to 
which  are  appended  penalties  so  terrible.  Since  criticism 
would  lead  to  deprivation,  the  prospect  of  deprivation  ex- 
tinguishes inquiry.  The  system  escapes  the  shame  of  per- 
secution by  repressing  independent  thought.  It  does  not 
expel  good  men  from  their  parsonages,  but  it  warps  their 
judgment.  It  would  crush  them  if  remonstrant,  but  it 
achieves  a  more  complete  victory  by  making  them  submis- 
sively acquiescent ;  and  the  errors  of  the  prayer-book  tri- 
umph over  successive  generations. 

But  while  the  State  is  thus  severe  against  those  who 
controvert  the  least  doctrines  of  the  prayer-book,  it  leaves 
unmolested  many  who  maintain  an  open  warfare  against 
important  doctrines  of  the  Bible.  Anglo-Catholic  ministers 
by  hundreds  diffiise  those  doctrines,  of  which  I  have  alrea- 
^  Bum,  vol.  i.  p.  105. 


358        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

dy  offered  some  specimens,  without  reproof;  and  thousands, 
it  is  to  be  feared,  still  more  mischievous  than  these  erring 
but  earnest  men,  have  a  rooted  dislike  to  the  doctrines  of 
grace  ;  deny  justification  by  grace  through  faith  without 
the  deeds  of  the  law  ;  deride  the  conversion  and  sanctifica- 
tion  of  sinners  by  the  Holy  Spirit ;  mislead  and  confirm  in 
their  indifference  the  churches  over  which  they  preside  ; 
and  are  unblamed.  Ought  evangelical  men  to  sanction  all 
this  by  their  adherence  to  the  Establishment  ? 

Schism. — The  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  Establish- 
ment respecting  schism  are  not  less  unsatisfactory.  The 
Anglican  churches  so  far  recognize  and  fraternize  with  the 
Church  of  Rome,  that  Roman  Catholic  priests  when  they 
become  Protestants  are  recognized  as  ministers  of  Christ, 
and  may  preach  in  our  churches  without  reordination. 
The  late  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  also  officially  recog- 
nized the  corrupt  Greek  Church  as  a  sister  church  in  the 
instructions  which  he  gave  to  Bishop  Alexander  on  his  de- 
parture for  Jerusalem ;  but  while  Roman  priests,  and  Greek 
priests,  still  more  degraded,  are  recognized  to  be  ministers 
of  Christ  by  the  Anglican  Churches,  these  maintain  a  com- 
plete separation  from  the  purest  churches  of  Christ,  and 
disown  their  ministers.  Schism  in  the  New  Testament  is 
dissension  among  Christians  who  ought  to  be  united  as 
brethren  (1  Cor.  i.  10;  xi.  18;  xii.  25).  It  is  not 
schismatical  to  refuse  to  unite  with  fellow-Christians  in 
those  things  which  are  forbidden  by  Christ,  for  here  we 
must  refuse  all  union  ;  nor  in  those  things  which  are  not 
enjoined  by  Christ,  for  here  we  must  have  liberty  of  judg- 
ing for  ourselves.  It  was  not  schismatical,  therefore,  in 
the  Gentile  Christians  of  the  apostolical  churches  to  re- 
fuse to  conform  to  the  Jewish  ritual  when  the  Jewish 
Christians  did  so  ;  and  if  a  schism  arises  in  a  Christian 
church  on  account  of  any  doctrine  or  practice,  those  who, 
in  a  Christian  spirit,  maintain  the  true  doctrine  and  the 
right  practice,  are  not  the  authors  of  the  schism,  but  those 
who  uphold  the  false  doctrine  and  who  insist  on  the  corrupt 
practice.  Thus,  when  a  schism  arose  in  the  church  of 
Antioch,  and  Paul  resisted  openly  Peter  and  Barnabas,  he 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.      359 

was  not  the  schismatic  when  he  energetically  disturbed 
their  Judaizing  doctrine  and  practice  ;  hut  they,  because 
they  upheld  them.^  So  pious  and  peaceable  dissenters  are 
no  schismatics.  As  each  man  is  bound  to  follow  Christ's 
will  in  all  things,  numbers  of  enlightened  and  excellent 
men,  who  have  thought  the  union  of  the  Establishment 
with  the  State  a  corrupt  junction  with  the  world,  and  a 
disregard  of  Christ's  authority  ;  its  prelacy  unscriptural, 
its  system  of  patronage  mischievous,  its  formularies  errone- 
ous, its  discipline  at  once  tyrannical  and  relaxed,  its  claims 
arrogant,  and  its  spirit  worldly,  have  felt  compelled  to 
abandon  it,  that  they  might  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ,  by 
maintaining  a  more  scriptural  form  of  church  government 
with  a  purer  discipline.  They  felt  their  duty  to  be  imper- 
ative ;  their  right  has  been  recognized  by  statute,  and  they 
now  amount  to  some  millions,  who  are  not  less  moral  and 
religious  than  the  soundest  part  of  the  Establishment. 
Their  nonconformity  can  not  in  itself  be  schism,  because 
the  Anglican  ritual  is  no  more  enjoined  on  them  than  the 
Jewish  ritual  was  on  the  early  Christians  ;  and  as  uni- 
formity of  worship  has  not  been  enjoined,  variety  and  liber- 
ty are  likely  to  be  more  useful.  Their  voluntaryism  can 
not  be  schismatical,  because  there  is  no  hint  in  the  New 
Testam.ent  of  a  union  between  Church  and  State.  Their 
rejection  of  prelacy  does  not  render  them  schismatics,  be- 
cause prelacy  is  a  human  arrangement  subsequent  to  the 
apostolic  age,  without  sanction  of  Scripture ;  and  their  inde- 
pendence in  local  churches  can  not  be  schismatical,  because 
all  the  apostolic  churches  were  independent.  There  was 
no  association  of  churches,  such  as  the  Church  of  England 
or  the  Church  of  Scotland,  in  primitive  times,  nor  was  one 
church  subject  to  another.  The  church  at  Philippi  was 
independent  of  the  church  at  Thessalonica,  and  the  church 
at  Thessalonica  was  equally  free  from  the  control  of  the 
church  at  Corinth.  Each  Christian  assembly  in  the  apos- 
tolic age  was  independent  of  all  the  rest,  and,  therefore, 
each  congregation  now  may,  without  schism,  follow  that 
precedent.  The  Anglican  Churches  were  therefor*^  fcomi^ 
1  Gal.  li.  11-^^' 


360        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

to  respect  their  Christian  Hbert)'",  and  fraternize  with  them, 
churches  with  churches,  ministers  with  ministers,  and 
members  with  members.  If  this  brotherly  concord  were 
manifested,  their  differences  in  the  form  of  worship  and 
disciphne  would  be  minor  evils.  The  churches  of  Christ 
being  one  in  doctrine,  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  Christ, 
and  in  heart,  would  snatch  from  the  Roman  Catholics 
their  favorite  argument  against  the  Protestants,  and  from 
unbelievers  their  most  usual  weapon  against  Christianity. 
Let  Christians,  notwithstanding  their  differences  in  disci- 
pline, be  one  in  heart  and  action,  and  the  beautiful  spectacle 
of  liberality,  disinterestedness,  and  affection,  would  conquer 
the  world's  unbelief  (John  xvii.  20,  21.)  United,  they 
could  much  more  effectually  labor  to  remove  ignorance,  to 
oppose  vice,  and  to  preach  the  Gospel,  If  the  world  saw 
that  Christians  generally  associated  with  Christians,  with- 
out asking  whether  they  were  Episcopalian,  Presbyterian, 
Independent,  or  Baptist,  then  their  differences  would  be 
reduced  to  their  just  dimensions,  and  their  common  faith  be 
exalted.  Among  all  denominations,  too,  there  are  not  very 
many  stirring,  earnest,  experienced,  and  able  preachers  of 
the  Gospel ;  but  if  all  these  divided  the  land  among  them, 
and,  with  fraternal  concord.  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians, 
Independents,  Baptists,  and  Wesleyans,  were  to  preach  in 
all  congregations  which  now  have  evangelical  pastors,  a 
revival  of  religion  would  probably  ensue  much  more  exten- 
sive than  that  in  the  time  of  Whitefield.  Multitudes  of 
congregations,  now  cold  and  negligent,  would  manifest  un- 
w^onted  earnestness,  and  myriads  of  souls  would  be  saved. 
What  narrow-minded  ritualists  would  dread  as  disorder  is 
Christ's  order.  This  fraternization  of  pious  men  of  all 
denominations  is  the  standing  laAV  of  Christ's  church,  the 
necessary  condition  of  its  health.      We  must  achieve  it. 

But,  at  present,  the  union  renders  it  impossible.  While 
the  Anglican  Churches  admit  Roman  Catholic  priests  and 
Greek  priests  to  be  ministers  of  Christ,  they  excommuni- 
cate his  purest  churches  and  his  most  faithful  ministers. 
By  canons  4,  5.  6,  7,  all  dissenters  are  excommunicated 
as  irnpugners  of  the  Anglican  form  of  worship,   articles 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       361 

ceremonies,  and  church  government.  Canon  10  is  as  fol- 
lows : — "  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm  that  such  min- 
isters as  refuse  to  subscribe  to  the  form  and  manner  of 
God's  worship  in  the  Church  of  England,  prescribed  in  the 
communion-book,  and  their  adherents  may  truly  take  unto 
them  the  name  of  another  church  not  established  ,by  law, 
...  let  them  be  excommunicated,"  Canon  1 1  is  as  fol- 
lows : — "  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm  or  maintain 
that  there  are  within  this  realm  other  meetings,  assemblies, 
or  congregations  of  the  king's  born  subjects,  than  such  as 
by  the  laws  of  this  land  are  held  and  allowed,  which  may 
rightly  charge  to  themselves  the  names  of  true  and  lawful 
churches,  let  him  be  excommunicated."  Canon  i2  adds, 
"  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm,  that  i*  is  lawful  for 
any  sort  of  ministers  and  lay  persons  ^^  either  of  them,  to 
join  together,  and  make  rules,  orders,  and  institutions,  in 
causes  ecclesiastical,  wit^^^^^t  the  queen's  authority,  and 
shall  submit  themseW^s  to  be  ruled  and  governed  by  them, 
let  them  be  excommunicated." 

Canon  27  is  headed  :  "  Schismatics  not  to  be  admitted 
to  the  communion,"  and  orders  that  no  minister  shall  admit 
to  the  communion  those  who  are  common  and  notorious 
depravers  of  the  book  of  common  prayer,"  &c.  ;  or  those 
who  maintain  that  any  part  of  the  prayer-book  is  unscrip- 
tural. 

Thus  the  Establishment  excommunicates  the  whole  body 
of  dissenters,  and  all  those  who  acknowledge  their  churches 
or  their  ministers. 

In  the  apostolic  age  a  schismatic  obtained  unenviable 
notoriety  by  the  following  censure  of  the  apostle  John  : 
"I  torote  U7ito  the  church :  but  Diotrephcs,  tvho  loveth  to 
have  the  'pre-eminence  among  them,  receiveth  us  7iot  .  .  . 
prating  against  us  ivith  malicimis  ivords :  and  7iot  con- 
tent therewith,  neither  doth  he  himself  receive  the  breth- 
ren, and  forbiddeth  them  tJuit  would,  and  casteth  them 
out  of  the  church.''  In  what  does  the  spirit  of  these  can- 
ons differ  from  the  spirit  of  Diotrephes  ? 

While  the  Establishment  condemns  the  dissenters  as 
schiismatics,  because  they  have  obtained  more  knowledge 

Q 


362        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

of  the  Scriptures  in  some  points  than  Anghcans  have,  it  is 
itself  schismatical,  disowning  the  purest  churches  of  Christ, 
excommunicating  brethren  whom  it  ought  to  receive  into 
fellowship,  and  heaping  opprobrium  on  the  most  faithful 
and  enlightened  followers  of  the  Redeemer. 

Some  deceive  themselves  by  supposing  that  these  canons 
are  obsolete  and  forgotten.  But  any  ecclesiastical  judge 
will  tell  him  that  they  are  living  laws  of  the  church,  which 
the  pastors  are  bound  to  obey  and  which  he  is  obliged  to 
enforce.  Not  an  Anglican  minister  dare  speak  against 
their  authority  or  controvert  their  doctrine,  except  he  dare 
also  to  brave  the  vengeance  of  the  law.  In  fact,  they  ex- 
ercise a  general  and  disastrous  influence  over  Anglican  min- 
isters. Why  g.ve  the  most  experienced  and  honored  minis- 
ters of  the  free  chur^l^es  excluded  from  the  pulpit  of  every 
evangelical  pastor  of  tiit  T^stabhshment  ?  Why  do  the 
best  Anglican  ministers  live  in  -aiig  act  of  schism  ?  Why 
are  multitudes  of  evangelical  pastor**  afraid  and  ashamed 
to  associate  with  the  pastors  of  free  churches,  as  honored 
and  as  blessed  by  the  Redeemer  as  they  are  themselves  ? 
Why  do  so  few  Anglican  ministers  support  the  Bible  Soci- 
ety, the  Tract  Society,  the  London  City  Mission  ?  Why 
have  they  so  combined  against  the  Evangelical  Alliance  ? 
Why  did  the  "  Christian  Observer,"  the  organ  of  the  evan- 
gelical ministers  of  the  Establishment,  month  after  month, 
rail  against  the  servants  of  Christ  in  other  churches,  and 
pour  out  its  bitterness  upon  those  who  upheld  an  effort  to 
promote  that  brotherly  affection  among  Christians  which 
our  Lord  has  so  solemnly  enjoined  ?  Why  is  there  almost 
no  friendly  association  in  private  between  Anglican  ministers 
and  the  ministers  of  any  other  denomination  ?  Why  are 
pious  Anglicans  afraid  and  ashamed  to  enter  into  a  dissent- 
ing chapel  ?  Thus  by  actions  more  significant  and  cutting 
than  words  do  pious  Anglicans  brand  the  purest  and  most 
spiritual  churches  of  Christ  in  this  land  as  schismatics  with 
whom  they  ought  to  hold  no  communion.  This  offense 
against  charity  is  rank,  and  cries  to  heaven.  Roman 
Catholics  are  flattered  by  it,  the  saints  of  Christ  are  dis- 
honored, his  churches  are  rent  into  factions,  his  cause  is 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       363 

impeded,  his  name  is  blasphemed.  How  long  is  this  to 
continue  by  the  support  of  evangelical  men  ? 

Refusal  to  iierform  Ministerial  Acts. — «'  Whatsoever 
is  not  of  faith  is  sin  ;"  and  therefore  every  minister  ought 
to  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  owai  mind,  after  due  examina- 
tion of  the  word  of  God,  that  what  he  does  is  right.  ^ 
But  the  union  prohibits  to  the  Anglican  minister  this  ex- 
ercise of  conscience  with  respect  to  several  ministerial 
acts. 

[i.]  Bainism. — Baptism,  according  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, should  be  preceded  by  repentance  and  faith,  being  a 
solemn  profession  of  both.^  Many  think  that  the  children 
of  believers,  being  dedicated  to  him,  and  about  to  be  trained 
up  for  him,  ought  to  be  admitted  to  baptism,  as  though 
they  were  penitent  believers,  in  virtue  of  their  parents' 
faith.  But  as  ungodly  parents  do  not  dedicate  their  chil- 
dren to  God,  nor  intend  to  train  them  up  for  his  service, 
being  unbelievers  themselves,  it  is  obvious  that  the  inten- 
tion of  the  ordinance,  and  all  the  prerequisites  demanded 
by  the  New  Testament  in  candidates,  are  set  aside  when 
the  children  of  ungodly  parents  are  baptized.  Each 
minister  ought  to  refuse  to  baptize  such.  Their  baptism 
inflicts  injury  on  the  children,  on  the  parents,  on  the 
cliurch,  and  is  a  contempt  of  a  solemn  ordinance  of  Christ. 
But  no  Anglican  minister  must  exercise  his  judgment,  or 
listen  to  conscience  in  any  such  case  which  is  brought  be- 
fore him,  unless  he  is  prepared  to  endure  a  suspension  from 
his  office  for  three  months  :  for  the  law  is,  "  No  minister 
shall  refuse  or  delay  to  christen  any  child  that  is  brought 
to  the  church  to  him.  And  if  he  shall  refuse,  he  shall  be 
suspended  by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  from  his  ministry 
by  the  space  of  three  months."  ^  The  consequence  is,  that 
no  children  are  refused,  the  ordinance  is  desecrated,  chil- 
dren are  deceived  with  the  idea  that  they  are  regenerated, 
which  hinders  them  from  seeking  regeneration  ;  multitudes 
of  persons,  with  nothing  of  religion  but  the  name,  become 

^  Rom.  xiv.  5,  23. 

2  Matt.  X.  32;  Rom.  x.  8,  10;   Mark  xvi.  15,  16;   Acts  ii.  38, 
41 5  viii.  12,  13,  37  ;  ix.  17,  18  ;  x.  44-47,  &c.  ""  Can.  68. 


364        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

members  of  the  Anglican  Churches  ;  Christ's  churches  are 
corrupted  ;  there  remains  no  difference  between  the  cliurches 
and  the  world  ;  the  cause  of  Christ  is  checked,  and  relig- 
ion itself  is  blasphemed,  because  of  the  multitude  of  "  bap- 
tized heathens."  All  this  is  sanctioned  and  perpetuated 
by  Christian  men  and  Christian  ministers  adhering  to  the 
Establishment. 

[ii.]  The  Lord's  Supper. — Christ  has  invited  to  his 
table,  as  welcome  guests,  none  but  his  disciples.  The 
bread  and  wine  represent  his  body  and  blood  ;  to  eat  that 
bread  and  wine  represents  the  reception  of  him  as  our  cru- 
cified Saviour  into  our  hearts  ;  and  to  eat  this  publicly  is  to 
profess  before  the  world  that  we  receive  him.  Believers 
only  can  properly  receive  the  Lord's  Supper,  since  they 
only  are  invited  ;  and  all  others  "  eat  and  drink  condem- 
nation to  themselves,  7iot  discerni?ig  the  Lord's  body''  ^ 
It  must  be,  therefore,  the  duty  of  each  church,  not  to  admit 
profane  and  ungodly  persons  to  that  ordinance.  '■'■Now  I 
have  written  to  you,''  says  the  apostle,  "  7iot  to  keep  com- 
pany, if  any  man  that  is  called  a  brother  he  a  fornicator, 
or  covetous,  or  an  idolater,  or  a  railer,  or  a  drunkard, 
or  an  extortioner,  with  such  an  one  no  7wt  to  eat.  .  .  . 
Therefore  put  away  frmii  among  yourselves  that  wicked 
person."  ^ 

These  sins  are  often  matters  of  notoriety,  when  they  are 
■  not  capable  of  legal  proof.  Some  of  them  are  not  cogniza- 
ble by  law.  Hence  each  church  ought  to  have  complete 
power  to  admit  persons  to  fellowship  with  themselves  at  the 
Lord's  table,  or  to  exclude  them.  But  the  union  has  de- 
stroyed the  right  of  the  church  to  interfere  in  this  matter. 
By  1  Edw.  VI.  cap.  1,  the  State  has  enacted  that  "the 
minister  shall  not,  without  a  lawful  cause,  deny  the  same" 
(the  sacrament)  "  to  any  person  that  shall  devoutly  and 
humbly  desire  it."  All  parishioners,  therefore,  have  a 
statutory  right  to  the  Lord's  Supper  unless  they  are  legally 
disqualified.  According  to  law,  a  minister  may  reject  from 
the  Lord's  table  a  person  whom  he  can  legally  prove  to  be 
an  open  and  notorious  evil  liver,  or  one  in  whom  malice  and 

^  1  Cor.  xi.  29.  =  1  Cor.  v.  11-13. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       365 

envy  reign  ;  but  if  he  is  not  prepared  with  his  legal  proof, 
the  State  gives  each  parishioner  whom  he  excludes  from 
the  table  the  right  of  suing  him  in  a  court  of  law.      He 
may  reject  a  pious  man  who  scruples  to  be  confirmed  by 
the  bishop,  or  who  thinks  it  superstitious  to  kneel  at  the 
table,  or  who  denies  the  supremacy  of  the  Crown,  or  who 
condemns  any  part  of  the  prayer-book  ;   but  he  must  not  re- 
ject one  who  frequents  the  ball-room  and  the  theater,  runs 
into  debt,  eats  and  drinks  to  excess,  and  is  a  lover  of  pleas- 
ure more  than  a  lover  of  God.      Thus  the  law  of  the  Es- 
tablishment compels  him  to  exclude  many  of  the  disciples 
of  Christ  from  his  table  and  to  admit  to  it  many  of  his  en- 
emies ;   whereby  the  guests  become  a  miscellaneous  assem- 
blage, from  whom  some  pious  persons  have  thought  it  to 
be  their  duty  to  withdraw,  that  they  might  seek  elsewhere 
the  communion  of  saints.      The  gathering  of  guests  at  the 
table  of  Christ  is  determined  by  Parliament,  not  by  the 
invitations  of  the  Master.      Warned  off  by  canons,  Avhich 
have  been  sanctioned  by  the  Crown',  but  are  disowned  by 
Christ,  his  guests  are  excluded  from  his  feast ;   and,  armed 
by  an  act  of  Parliament,  his  enemies  force  their  way  to  it. 
The  sacred  Supper,  which  ought  to  gather  round  it  none 
but  brethren,  lies  almost  as  open  to  all  sorts  of  comers  as  a 
theater  or  a  ball-room.      Where  two  or  three  of  his  disci- 
ples meet  in  his  name,  there  is  he  presiding  over  them  and 
blessing  them  (Matthew  xviii.  20) ;   but  as  to  these  miscel- 
laneous collections,  from  which  the  world  has  thrust  out 
many  of  his  disciples,  and  into  which  it  has  forced  many 
of  its  devotees,  is  he  there  ?      The  churches  ought  to  keep 
the  guests  of  Christ's  table  select ;    but  their  rights  are 
trampled  under  feet.      Christ's  ministers  ought  not  to  allow 
his  table  to  be  thus  invaded  ;   but  they  are  compelled  to  be 
the  administrators  of  the  State  law,  which  sanctions  the 
invasion. 

[iii.]  Burial. — The  time  when  friends  commit  to  the 
grave  the  remains  of  one  departed  is  so  solemn  that  a 
minister  ought  to  improve  it  to  the  utmost  for  the  benefit 
of  the  survivors.  Then  especially,  when  their  hearts  are 
softened  to  receive  instruction,  should  he  explain  clearly 


366       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

the  nature  of  true  religion,  enforce  its  importance,  guard 
them  against  self-deception,  and  leave  them  in  no  doubt  of 
the  characters  to  which  the  Scripture  assigns  a  happy 
and  a  miserable  doom  respectively.  Such  being  the  nature 
of  the  occasion,  the  State,  by  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  has 
ordered  that  the  parish  minister  should  use  over  each  body 
which  he  commits  to  the  grave  these  words,  "  It  hath 
pleased  Almighty  God  of  his  great  mercy  to  take  unto 
himself  the  soul  of  our  dear  brother  here  departed." 
*'  Almighty  God,  ....  we  give  thee  hearty  thanks  for 
that  it  hath  pleased  thee  to  deliver  this  our  brother  out 
of  the  miseries  of  this  sinful  world."  No  man  could  use 
these  words  over  an  unregenerate  and  unpardoned  sinner 
who  has  gone  to  the  judgment-seat  to  give  account  for  his 
unrepented  rejection  of  Christ,  whose  soul  is  lost,  and  who 
is  shut  up  among  the  damned  forever,  knowing  all  this  of 
the  dead  man,  without  awful  falsehood  and  cold-blooded 
cruelty  to  survivors.  Now,  many  persons  in  every  parish 
so  Hve  and  die  that  the  minister  has  much  more  reason  for 
fear  than  for  hope  respecting  them.  Their  lives  were  un- 
godly, their  last  hours  afforded  no  indication  of  a  change 
of  heart,  the  minister  has  reason  to  believe  that  they  are 
lost.  Over  the  corpse  of  one  of  these  to  declare  that  God 
has  taken  to  himself  the  soul  of  a  dear  brother,  when  there 
is  ample  proof  that  God  has  banished  from  him  the  soul 
of  an  enemy  ;  to  bless  God  for  delivering  a  brother  from 
the  miseries  of  this  life,  when  death  has  too  probably  con- 
signed an  unbeliever  to  the  miseries  of  hell,  would  involve 
some  measure  of  falsehood  and  of  cruelty.  A  minister  ought 
not  to  make  these  declarations  over  those  whom  he  has 
reason  to  think  died  unbelieving  and  unpardoned  ;  but  he 
must  make  them.  He  owes  it  to  truth  and  charity  to 
refuse;  but  canon  68  enacts,  "No  minister  shall  refuse 
....  to  bury  any  corpse  that  is  brought  to  the  church  .... 
in  such  manner  and  form  as  is  prescribed  in  the  book  of 
common  prayer  ;  and  if  he  shall  refuse  to  bury  (except  the 
party  deceased  were  denounced,  excommunicated,  tnajoi'e 
excommunicatio7ie,  for  some  grievous  and  notorious  crime, 
and  no  man  able  to  testify  his  repentance),  he  shall  be 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.      367 

suspended  by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  from  his  ministry 
by  the  space  of  three  months."  If  he  makes  these  declara- 
tions, he  either  leads  ungodly  survivors  to  suppose  that  he 
tliinks  the  dead  man  to  be  safe,  or  that  he  uses  words  con- 
trary to  his  convictions  that  he  may  keep  his  place  ;  if  he 
refuse  to  make  them,  he  must  be  suspended  for  three  months. 
The  consequence  is,  that  these  words  are  used  over  all  the 
ungodly  myriads  of  our  country  who  die  in  profound  ignor- 
ance, in  complete  unbelief,  and  in  utter  impenitence,  leaving 
survivors  to  follow  their  fatal  courses  with  a  hope  that  they 
too  will,  at  their  departure,  be  blessed  by  God  and  be 
honored  by  the  church.  An  evangelical  minister  tells  his 
congregation  from  the  pulpit  that  unless  they  be  born  again 
they  can  not  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  so  describes 
true  religion  that  it  is  evident  the  great  majority  are  not 
truly  religious  ;  and  although  no  apparent  change  occurs 
in  many  of  them  to  the  time  of  their  death,  he  then  says 
of  them  all,  that  they  are  his  dear  brethren  whom  God  has 
taken  to  himself  out  of  the  miseries  of  the  world.  Our 
Lord  and  Saviour  has  made  the  following  solemn  declara^ 
tion  :  "  Enter  ye  in  at  the  strait  gate  ;  fw  loide  is  the 
gate  and  broad  is  the  %vay  tliat  leadeth  to  destruction, 
and  many  there  be  tvhich  go  in  therea.t ;  because  strait 
is  the  gate  and  narroiv  is  the  ivay  which  leadeth  unto 
life,  a')ul  feiv  there  be  that  find  it."  ^  Recognizing  the 
authority  of  these  statements,  Anglican  ministers  on  the 
brink  of  each  open  grave  declare  the  road  to  heaven  to  be 
so  broad  that  the  whole  nation  get  into  it  before  they  die. 
In  their  pulpits  they  teach  that  ''ma?iy  are  called,  but  few 
chosen;"'^  but  in  their  churchyards  they  virtually  declare 
the  whole  parish,  including  the  drunken  and  the  dissolute, 
to  be  chosen.  Their  creed  is,  that  '' if  any  man  love  vx)t 
the  Lord  Jesics  Christ,  he  must  be  armthemn  tnaranatloa  i""^ 
and  their  proclamation  over  all  their  dead  parishioners  who 
gave  no  sign  of  love  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  their  last 
moment,  is,  that  they  are  gone  to  God  and  glory. 

The  Performance  of  Ministerial  Acts  ivithout  Aidlior- 
ity. — Another  class  of  oflenses  punishable  by  ecclesiastical 
^  Matt.  vU.  13    14.         2  Matt.  xxii.  14.         ^  1  Cor.  xvi.  22. 


368   INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

law  comprehends  all  those  ministerial  acts  for  which  a  pas- 
tor has  not  received  ecclesiastical  authority. 

There  are  two  ecclesiastical  offenses  peculiar  to  a  deacon. 
The  first  is  the  consecration  of  the  bread  and  wine  in  the 
Lord's  Supper.  The  Anglican  priest  at  the  administration 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  reads  a  "prayer  of  consecration,"  and 
is  directed  to  lay  his  hand  upon  the  bread  and  upon  the 
cup  ;  now  if  a  deacon  were  to  do  this  he  would  be  guilty 
of  an  ecclesiastical  oflense.  The  act  is  made  penal  by  the 
13th  and  14th  Charles  II.  cap.  4,  which  enacts  as  fol- 
lows :  "  No  person  shall  presume  to  consecrate  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper  before  such  time  as  he  shall  be 
ordained  priest."  ^  The  second  diaconal  offense  is  pronounc- 
ing absolution.  When  a  deacon  is  ordained  priest  the 
bishop  says  to  him,  "Receive  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  office 

and  work  of  a  priest Whose  sins  thou  dost  forgive, 

they  are  forgiven."  Hence  when  he  visits  a  sick  man, 
and  the  sick  man  makes  confession  of  his  sins,  the  prayer- 
book  directs  as  follows  :  "  The  priest  shall  absolve  him  (if 
he  humbly  and  heartily  desire  it)  after  this  sort.  '  Our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  tvho  hath  left  'power  to  his  church  to 
absolve  all  sinners  who  truly  repent  and  believe  in  him,  of 
his  great  mercy  forgive  thee  thine  offenses  ;  and  by  his 
authority  committed  to  me,  I  absolve  thee  from  all  thy 
sins,'  "  &c.  But  should  the  deacon  thus  absolve  any  one 
after  a  similar  confession,  he  would  commit  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal offense.  This  is  laid  down  by  Dr.  Burn  in  the  follow- 
ing terms  :  "  The  deacon  may  perform  all  other  offices  in 
the  hturgy  which  a  priest  can  do,  except  only  consecrating 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  except  also  pro- 
nouncing the  absolution  .  .  .  That  the  priest  only,  and  not 
the  deacon,  hath  power  to  pronounce  the  absolution  seemeth 
most  evidently  to  be  deduced  from  the  acts  of  ordination. "^ 
The  deacon  may  instruct  the  ignorant,  argue  with  the  in- 
fidel, reclaim  the  backsliding,  console  the  dying,  preach  to 
the  congregation,  administer  the  bread  and  wine  at  the 
Lord's  table,  reprove,  rebuke,  and  exhort,  and  in  the  office 
of  a  pastor  "  feed  the  flock  of  God,"  but  if  he  consecrate 

^  Burn,  vol.  iii.  p.  58.  "  lb.  pp.  59,  60. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       369 

the  bread  and  wine,  or  pronounce  the  absolution,  he  is  lia- 
ble to  censure  for  his  presumption. 

Another  ecclesiastical  offense,  which  may  be  committed 
by  an  Anglican  pastor,  is  preaching  without  license.  It 
is  true  that  every  one  who  is,  according  to  the  ordination 
service,  "  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  "  called  accord- 
ing to  the  will  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  to  become  a  min- 
ister, is  bound  by  our  Lord's  commission,  as  far  as  he  can, 
"  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  :"  (Mark  xvi.  16)  ; 
but  the  canons  have  determined  that  he  must  have  the 
license  of  the  bishop  as  well  as  a  commission  from  Christ 
and  a  call  from  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  a  careless  incumbent 
preach  once  on  each  Sunday,  though  his  sermons  be  mere 
moral  essays  in  which  the  saving  doctrines  of  the  Gospel 
find  no  place,  if  he  read  other  men's  sermons  as  being  him- 
self unable  to  compose,  no  authority  in  the  Establishment 
can  molest  him  ;  but  if  a  minister  be  zealous,  and  seeing 
parishes  round  him  in  which  the  people  are  rude  and  vicious, 
and  in  which  the  Gospel  is  not  faitlifuUy  preached,  should 
pass  the  bounds  of  his  parish  to  preach  Christ  to  them,  he 
may  preach  vidth  all  the  wisdom  of  Paul,  and  hundreds 
may  be  converted  by  his  ministry,  yet  if  he  has  done  this 
without  the  license  of  the  bishop,  he  is  liable  to  punish- 
ment. "  No  clergyman  whatever  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land has  any  right  to  officiate  in  any  diocese,  in  any  way 
whatever,  as  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  unless 
he  has  a  lawful  authority  so  to  do  ;  and  he  can  only  have 
that  authority  when  he  receives  it  at  the  hands  of  the 
bishop."  ^  Accordingly,  Mr.  Keith,  minister  of  Mayfair 
chapel,  a  chapel-of-ease  to  St.  George's,  Hanover  Square, 
officiating  without  license,  was  excommunicated  in  the 
court  of  the  bishop  of  London,  reported  to  Chancery,  and 
the  writ  de  excommunicato  cajnendo  issued  against  him.^ 

If  he  could  get  the  bishop's  license  to  preach  in  the  neg- 
lected parishes  round  him,  any  zealous  minister  would  be 
stopped  by  the  ungodly  incumbents  :  "  For  there  is  no  gen- 
eral principle  of  ecclesiastical  law  more  firmly  established 
than  this,  that  it  is  not  competent  to  any  clergyman  to 

»  Bum,  vof  i.  p.  306^  ^  jb.  vol.  ii.  p.  188. 

a* 


370        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

officiate  in  any  church  or  chapel  without  consent  of  the 
incumbent."  ^ 

The  result  of  these  laws  is,  that  multitudes  live  and  die 
without  hearing  the  Gospel  preached  to  them  ;  unfaithful 
pastors  are  upheld  in  their  indolence  and  false  doctrine  ; 
pious  ministers,  restrained  in  their  zeal,  grow  lethargic  in 
the  routine  of  their  duties  in  very  small  villages  ;  and 
whereas  the  Gospel  ought  to  be  <«  preached  to  every  creat- 
ure," and  there  are  enough  of  evangelical  ministers  to  ac- 
complish this  command,  the  command  of  Christ  is  made  of 
none  effect  by  our  traditions.      (Matt.  xv.  3—6.) 

But  the  state  of  an  incumbent  is  perfect  liberty  com- 
pared with  the  thralldom  to  which  our  church  discipline,  at 
once  so  relaxed  and  so  tyrannical,  has  doomed  curates.  No 
curate  can  officiate  in  any  diocese  without  the  license  of 
the  bishop  ;  that  license  the  bishop  may  withhold  without 
reason  assigned  ;  and  without  reason  assigned  he  may  re- 
voke it  at  his  pleasure.  Uncharged,  therefore,  with  the 
commission  of  a  single  offense,  untainted  with  error,  and 
unblemished  in  life,  an  experienced,  able,  and  faithful  min- 
ister of  Christ  may  be  driven  from  any  diocese  without  de- 
fense, without  trial,  without  appeal,  without  the  right  of 
complaint,  as  though  he  had  been  convicted  of  the  worst 
errors  or  had  been  disgraced  by  notorious  crimes.  As  the 
consequence  of  this  state  of  the  law,  Mr.  Kyle  was  lately 
refused  a  license  by  Archbishop  Whately  for  manifesting 
his  kindness  to  his  Christian  brethren,  according  to  Christ's 
command,  by  joining  the  Evangelical  Alliance  ;  and  the 
archbishop  declared  his  determination  to  withdraw  his 
license  from  any  curate  who  should  join  it.  When  a 
curate  is  thus  dismissed  from  a  diocese,  he  is  in  danger  of 
utter  ruin.  For  the  forty-eighth  canon  enacts  as  follows  : 
"  Curates  and  ministers,  if  they  remove  from  one  diocese  to 
another,  shall  not  be  by  any  means  admitted  to  serve  with- 
out testimony  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  whence  they 
came,  in  writing,  of  their  honesty,  ability,  and  conformity 
to  the  ecclesiastical  laws  of  the  Church  of  England."  The 
practice  founded  on  this  canon  is  for  each  bishop  to  demand 
1  Burn,  vol.  i.  p.  306. 


DTSCIPLTNE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       371 

from  any  minister  who  requests  his  license  a  testimonial 
from  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  in  which  he  last  served. 
This  wanting,  he  must  be  rejected  ;  and  therefore,  unless 
an  ejected  curate  obtains  a  living,  his  dismissal  from  a 
diocese  is  nearly  equivalent  to  an  ejectment  from  the  An- 
glican Church.^ 

It  may  be  supposed  by  some,  that  those  who  feel  their 
conscience  to  be  wounded  by  the  demands  of  the  Estab- 
lishment, their  zeal  to  be  checked  by  its  restrictions,  and 
their  liberty  to  be  oppressed  by  prelatic  power,  may  with- 
draw, to  exercise  their  ministry  in  other  denominations. 
But  not  to  mention  the  general  notion  that  episcopacy  is 
of  divine  origin,  which  would  hinder  some  from  seceding, 
and  the  inveterate  fancy  that  dissent  from  the  Established 
Church  is  schism,  which  would  hinder  others,  not  to  speak 
of  the  disruption  of  pleasant  friendships,  and  of  the  violence 
done  to  cherished  tastes,  which  are  often  involved  in  a  sep- 
aration from  the  Establishment,  it  is  forbidden  by  canon, 
to  every  Anglican  minister,  ever  to  'exercise  his  ministry  in 
another  denomination.  In  the  eye  of  "  the  church,"  all 
dissenting  churches  are  companies  of  schismatics,  and  their 
ministers  are  laymen  living  in  schism.  To  become  a  dis- 
senting minister  is  therefore,  according  to  our  ecclesias- 
tical law,  to  relinquish  the  ministry,  and  become  a  layman 
in  a  state  of  schism.  And  this  is  forbidden  by  the  seventy- 
sixth  canon  in  the  following  terms  :  "No  man  being  ad- 
mitted a  deacon  or  minister  shall  from  thenceforth  volunta- 
rily relinquish  the  same,  nor  afterward  use  himself  in  the 
course  of  his  life  as  a  layman,  upon  pain  of  excommunica- 
tion." The  effect  of  this  canon  has  been  recently  proved 
in  the  case  of  Mr.  Shore,  the  excellent  minister  of  a  con- 
gregation at  Bridgetown,  near  Totness.  A  new  incumbent 
having  taken  possession  of  the  living  of  Bury  Pomeroy,  in 
which  Bridgetown  is  situated,  informed  Mr.  Shore,  whose 
evangelical  principles  he  did  not  like,  that  he,  (Mr.  Shore) 
required,  in  consequence  of  the  new  incumbency,  to  have  a 
new  nomination    to    be    minister   of  the    congregation    at 

'  Driven  from  the  diocese  of  Dublin,  Mr.  Kyle  found  no  ark  of 
safety  from  the  prelatic  storm  within  Ireland,  and  has  gone  to  Jersey. 


372        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

Bridgetown,  which  he  meant  to  withhold.  The  new  in 
cumhent  refusing-  to  nominate,  and  the  bishop  of  Exetei 
withdrawing  his  Hcense,  Mr.  Shore  was  about  to  be  forcibly 
separated  from  an  attached  congregation,  to  which  he  had 
been  for  some  years  a  faithful  and  blameless  pastor.  Pvathei 
than  desert  the  church  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  had 
made  him  overseer,  and  where  he  had  received  many  seals 
to  his  ministry,  he  registered  his  chapel  as  a  dissenting  place 
of  worship,  and  continued  to  be  the  pastor  of  the  flock  as  a 
dissenter.  For  this  he  was  cited  into  the  court  of  Arches, 
which  decided  that  he  could  not  divest  himself  of  the  char- 
acter of  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England,  nor  therefore 
officiate  without  license.  The  privy  council  to  which  he 
appealed  confirmed  the  sentence  of  the  court  of  Arches  ; 
when  he  petitioned  the  House  of  Lords,  that  House  disre- 
garded his  petition  ;  and  eventually  he  was  admonished  by 
the  court  of  Arches  not  to  officiate  within  the  province  of 
Canterbury  ;  warned  that  if  he  disregarded  the  sentence  of 
the  court  he  must  expect  severer  treatment,  and  was  con- 
demned in  his  poverty  to  pay  the  Avhole  costs  of  the  pro- 
ceedings, of  which  his  own  share  had  already  been  above 
seven  hundred  pounds,  about  one  thousand  pounds  more 
being  now  imposed  upon  him.  He  has  continued  to  preach, 
and  it  remains  to  see  what  further  severity  the  bishop 
means  to  use. 

But  that  which  under  this  head  of  discipline  seems  to 
me  most  to  condemn  the  union  of  the  Anglican  Churches 
with  the  State  is  the  easy  independence,  the  total  impu- 
nity, the  absolute  freedom  from  all  ecclesiastical  censure, 
with  which  numbers  of  Anglican  pastors  are  living  in  a 
manner  which  in  any  free  churches  would  be  considered  to 
unfit  them  for  the  pastoral  office.  Some  have  no  acquaint- 
ance with  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  ;  some  add  to  false 
doctrine  the  Anglo-Catholic  practices  which  are  leading 
their  congregations  toward  Romanism  ;  some  betoken  a 
worldly  and  covetous  spirit  by  actions  for  the  recovery  of 
their  dues  and  frequent  contention  with  their  parishioners  ; 
some  are  pursuing  the  pleasures  of  literature  to  the  almost 
total  neglect  of  theology  ;    some  spend  hours  and  days  in 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCHES.       373 

shooting  ;  others  waste  more  time  and  more  money  in  hunt- 
ing ;  the  names  of  many  appear  in  the  Hsts  of  attendants 
at  balls  and  races  ;  and  others  read  to  their  congregations 
the  sermons  of  others,  copied  from  books  or  bought  in  man- 
uscript ;  ^  and  after  going  through  the  minimum  of  official 
duty  required  by  the  State,  spend  the  rest  of  their  time  in 
the  most  trivial  employments.  All  these  remain  in  their 
neglect  unmolested.  Their  churches  have  no  legal  right 
to  complain  ;  the  bishops  can  do  nothing  but  enforce  the 
lav^,  the  requirements  of  which  they  fulfill  ;  and  under  the 
wing  of  the  State  they  can  defy  interference. 

To  any  one  who  considers  for  what  purposes  Christ  has 
instituted  the  pastoral  office,  and  what  results  flow  from  a 
faithful  ministry,  it  is  melancholy  in  the  highest  degree  to 
reflect  how  this  union  of  the  Church  with  the  State  author- 
izes the  blind  to  lead  the  blind,  the  dead  to  be  bishops  of 
the  dead.  Ought  they  who  see  the  enormous  evil  to  per- 
petuate it  by  remaining  within  the  Establishment  ?  Patron- 
age will  ever  introduce  multitudes  into  the  ministry,  for  the 
sake  of  livings,  who  have  neither  talent  nor  taste  for  it, 

^  A  friend  of  mine  lately  heard  a  sermon  of  Robert  Hall's,  inter- 
larded with  a  few  high-church  expressions,  preached  in  the  parish- 
church  at  Hythe.  I  am  acquainted  with  a  person,  who  not  long 
ago,  told  me  that  he  was  getting  his  livelihood  by  writing  twelve 
sermons  weekly  for  clerical  coiTCspondents.  A  clergyman,  with 
whom  I  am  acquainted,  once  told  me  that  he  had  never  written  a 
sermon,  and  could  not  WTite  one.  I  counted  lately  150  volumes  of 
second-rate  and  third-rate  sermons  in  a  clergyman's  library,  contain- 
ing altogether  about  three  hundred  volumes.  And  the  following 
advertisements  appeared  lately  in  the  "  Record  :" — 

"  Manuscript  Sermons. — The  minister  of  a  large  congregation 
in  London  is  willing  to  supply  another  clergyman  from  his  stock  of 
original  ser-vions,  or  to  compose  sermons  on  given  texts  and  occa- 
sions.    Correspondence  confidential. 

"For  a  specimen  sermon  and  terms,  address  to  D.  E.,  Post-oflEice, 
Goswell-street  Road,  London." 

"  Manuscript  Sermons. 

"  To  Clergymen  who  from  ill  health,  or  other  causes,  are  pre- 
vented from  composing  their  own  sermons,  the  advertiser  oflers  his 
services  on  moderate  terms.  Original  sermons  composed  on  any 
given  texts  or  subjects. — N.B.  A  specimen  sent  if  required. 

"Address  L.  S.  W.,  Post-office.  Winchester." 


374        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

without  piety  and  without  knowledge  ;  and  the  State,  pro- 
tecting them  from  the  just  consequences  of  their  inefficiency, 
will  ever  leave  them  at  full  liberty  to  preach  other  men's 
sermons,  neglect  all  pastoral  labor,  and  indulge  in  discred- 
itable indolence,  provided  that  they  baptize  every  child,  and 
bury  every  corpse,  pronounce  the  prayer-book  to  be  alto- 
gether scriptural,  and  do  not  violate  the  canons  by  friend- 
ship toward  pious  dissenters. 

Section  VI. —  The  Influence  of  the  Union  on  the  Evan- 
gelization of  the  Country. 

We  have  seen  what  reason  there  is  to  fear  that  thousands 
of  incumbents  are  unconverted  men  who  entered  the  minis- 
try from  worldly  considerations,  who  do  not  understand  the 
Gospel,  who  dislike  the  evangelical  ministers  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, who  support  no  evangelical  institutions,  who 
indulge  in  worldly  amusements,  who  neglect  their  parishes, 
and  over  whom  neither  the  government  nor  the  bishops 
exercise  any  effectual  superintendence.  Their  parishes,  for 
the  most  part,  remain  profoundly  ignorant  of  the  Gospel. 
The  population  of  England  is  likewise  increasing  at  the 
rate  of  about  200,000  annually;  and  as  agriculture  can 
not  find  employment  for  many  more  than  those  who  are 
already  engaged  in  it,  these  new  myriads  find  their  way 
chiefly  to  the  cities,  where  the  pastors  of  all  denominations 
being  already  too  few,  they  must  be  considered  as  adding 
to  the  population  which  is  destitute  of  religious  instruction. 
To  all  these  untaught  millions,  both  in  villages  and  in 
cities,  the  Gospel  ought  to  be  preached  ;  it  is  necessary  for 
their  welfare.  Here  let  me  beg  the  reader  solemnly  to 
consider  the  import  of  the  following  passages  of  the  word 
of  God  :  "  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God;  for 
it  is  twt  subject  to  the  laiv  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  he. 
.  .  .  You  hath  he  quickened  ivho  were  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins.  .  .  .  Ye  to  ere  the  servants  of  sin.  .  .  .  Except  a 
mayi  he  horn  again  he  can  iwt  see  the  kingdom  of  God. 
.  .  .  We  were  hy  nature  the  children  of  ivrath  even  as 
others.  .  .  .  As  many  as  are  of  the  works  of  the  law  are 


EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  375 

under  the  curse;  for  it  is  written,  Cursed  is  every  one 
that  continueth  twt  in  all  things  ivhich  are  written  in  the 
hook  of  the  laio  to  do  them.  .  .  .  All  have  sinned,  and 
coine  short  of  the  glory  of  God.  .  .  .  The  icages  of  sin  is 
death.  .  .  .  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his 
07ily -begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  wight 
nx)t  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  .  .  .  He  that  believ- 
eth oil  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life.  .  .  .  He  that  believ- 
eth and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved.  .  .  .  By  him  all  that 
believe  are  justified  from  all  things.  .  .  .  This  is  life 
eternal,  to  know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ 
whom  thou  hast  sent.  .  .  .  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for 
tlie  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Ltord. 
.  .  .  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature.  .  .  .  They  ivent  forth  and  preached  every 
ivhere,  the  Lord  luorking  tvith  them.  .  .  .  I  am  debtor 
both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  barbarians,  both  to  the  ivise 
and  to  the  unwise  ;  so  as  much  as  in  me  is,  I  am  ready 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  you  that  are  at  Rome  also.  .  .  . 
Necessity  is  laid  upon  me ;  yea,  ivoe  is  unto  me  if  1 
preach  twt  the  Gospel!  .  .  .  The  Holy  Ghost  ivitnesseth 
in  every  city,  saying  that  bonds  and  affiictions  abide  me. 
But  none  of  these  things  move  tne,  neither  count  I  my 
life  dear  unto  myself  so  that  I  might  finish  my  course 
with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  I  have  received  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  .  .  . 
They  called  them,  and  commaiuled  them  not  to  speak  at 
all  nor  teach  in  the  Qiame  of  Jesus.  But  Peter  and  John 
ansivercd  and  said  to  them,  Whether  it  be  right  in  the 
sight  of  God  to  hearken  tmto  you  more  than  unto  God, 
judge  ye :  for  ive  can  not  but  speak  the  things  ivhich  ice 
have  seen  and  heard.  .  .  .  And  when  they  had  called  the 
apostles,  and  beaten  thein,  they  commanded  that  they 
should  not  speak  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  let  tliem  go. 
And  they  departed  from  the  presence  of  the  council, 
rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  simme 
fm'  his  name.  And  daily  in  the  temple,  and  in  every 
house,  they  ceased  7wt  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ. 
.  .  .  And  at  that  time   there  was  a  great  persecution 


376       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

against  the  church  ivhich  was  at  Jerusalem;  and  they 
were  all  scattered  abroad  throughout  the  regions  of  Judea 
a7id  Samaria,  except  the  apostles.  Therefore  they  that 
were  scattered  abroad  went  everij  ivhere  pi-eaching  the 
U'orcl.  .  .  .  Noiv  they  which  %vere  scattered  abroad  upon 
the  persecution  that  arose  about  Stephen  traveled  as  far 
as  Phenice,  and  Cyprus,  and  Antioch,  preaching  the 
w'wd.  And  the  hand  of  the  Lord  ivas  with  them,  and 
a  great  number  believed  and  turned  to  the  Lord''  ^ 
These  passages  clearly  shoM'-  the  danger  and  ruin  of  those 
"wdio  are  ignorant  of  Christ ;  the  value  of  the  Gospel ; 
that  it  is  the  express  will  of  Christ  it  should  be  preached 
to  every  creature  ;  that  the  apostles  and  first  Christians 
preached  Christ  every  where,  and  would  allow  no  authority 
to  hinder  them ;  and  that  God  blessed  their  labor  to  the 
conversion  of  sinners.  With  these  passages  of  Scripture  in 
view,  it  can  not  be  doubted  that  the  disciples  of  Christ  in 
England  are  bound  to  make  him  known  to  all  in  the  coun- 
try vv-ho,  being  ignorant  of  the  way  of  salvation,  are  willing 
to  listen.  To  obey  this  command  of  Christ,  to  accomplish 
this  work  of  charity,  to  proclaim  salvation  by  grace  through 
faith  to  every  one  in  the  country  ivilling  to  listen,  is  quite 
ivithiji  their  reach. 

Out  of  sixteen  thousand  ministers  of  the  Establishment, 
if  three  thousand  are  evangelical  and  earnest  men,  these 
three  thousand,  by  a  well -organized  home  mission,  could 
bring  the  gospel  to  almost  the  whole  country.  The  parishes 
of  England  and  Wales  are  not  twelve  thousand  ;  and  how 
easy  it  would  be  for  each  evangelical  minister  to  preach 
once  a  month  to  each  of  three  parishes  contiguous  to  his 
own  I  Assuming,  then,  that  there  are  three  thousand 
evangelical  ministers  in  the  Establishment,  these  might 
easily  preach  the  gospel  once  a  month  in  nine  thousand 
parishes   besides   their  own.       Such    extra   official    efforts 

^  Rom.  viii.  7  ;  Eph.  ii.  1  ;  Rom.  vi.  17 ;  John  iii.  3  ;  Eph.  ii.  3  ; 
Gal.  iii.  10 ;  Rom.  iii.  23  ;  vi.  23  ;  John  iii.  16,  36  ;  Mark  xvi.  16  ; 
Acts  xiii.  39;  John  xvii.  3;  Phil.  iii.  8;  Mark  xvi.  15,  20;  Rom. 
i.  14,  15;  1  Cor.  ix.  16:  Acts  xx.  23,  24;  iv.  18-20;  v.  40-42; 
viii.  1,  4;  xi.  19-21. 


EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  377 

would  prove  new  life  to  their  own  congregations  ;  and  each 
church,  emulating  the  earnestness  of  its  pastor,  would  be 
come  a  center  of  evangelization  to  all  its  neighborhood. 
What  the  evangelical  church  of  Lyons  has  done  of  late 
years  under  its  pious  pastors,  enlightening  and  blessing 
many  neighboring  villages,  the  three  thousand  Anglican 
Churches,  with  evangelical  pastors,  could  do  likewise. 
Were  good  men  unfettered,  there  are  enough  of  them  in 
the  Establishment  to  make  the  Gospel  known  throughout 
the  land  to  every  one  willing  to  listen. 

But  much  more  than  this  could  be  done  at  once.  Be- 
sides three  thousand  evangelical  pastors  of  Anglican  Church- 
es, there  are  above  six  thousand  evangelical  pastors  of  free 
churches,  who  are  generally  better  fitted  than  their  Angli- 
can brethren  to  address  the  poor,  by  the  popular  habits  to 
which  the  organization  of  the  free  churches  has  formed 
them.  All  these,  by  the  law  of  Christ,  ought  to  be  one  in 
heart  and  action  (John  xvii.  20,  21).  All  ought  to  re- 
ceive one  another  to  their  hearts  and  houses,  as  Christ  has 
received  them  (Rom.  xv,  7  ;  xiv.  1).  All  ought  to  be  of 
one  heart  and  of  one  soul  (Acts  iv.  32).  All  ought  to  aid 
each  other  in  the  warfare  of  the  church  of  Christ  with  the 
unbelief  of  the  world  (Phil.  i.  27).  Imagine  these  nine 
thousand  ministers  of  Christ  heartily  combined  to  do  their 
utmost  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  sixteen  millions  of 
their  countrymen  ;  to  hold  frequent  meetings  for  consulta- 
tion and  prayer  ;  to  preach  in  each  other's  pulpits  ;  to 
establish  the  stated  preaching  of  the  gospel  in  every  parish 
of  the  land  ;  to  hold  together  Evangelical  Alliance  meet- 
ings ;  to  manifest  to  the  churches  and  to  the  world  the 
unity  of  Christ's  followers  in  place  of  a  spurious  dead 
uniformity  ;  and  to  urge  all  their  flocks  to  united  benevo- 
lent exertion  for  the  welfare  of  their  several  neighborhoods  : 
these  efforts  would,  with  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  never 
withheld  from  earnest  and  prayerful  exertion,  occasion  a 
vast  revival  of  religion  in  the  whole  country.  But  if  they 
could  do  this,  they  are  bound  to  do  it ;  for  "  to  him  tlmt 
knoweth  to  do  good  and  doeth  it  twt,  to  him  it  is  sin."  ^ 
^  James  iv.  17. 


378       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

Like  St.  Pau],  we  are  debtors  to  do  all  the  good  in  the 
world  which  we  can  do.^ 

But  the  union  forbids  these  evangelical  exertions,  and 
thus  perpetuates  the  ignorance  of  millions.  Tt  has  secured 
the  ordination  of  many  ungodly  ministers,  it  maintains 
them  unmolested  in  their  ungodliness,  and  excludes  the 
Gospel  from  their  parishes.  The  union  of  Christians  to 
evangelize  the  country  is  prohibited,  the  union  of  the 
churches  with  the  world  is  upheld.  Christians  ought  to 
be  acting  together  for  Christ  and  his  cause  ;  but  Angli- 
can ministers,  while  they  fraternize  with  his  enemies  at 
visitations  and  other  ecclesiastical  meetings,  regard  the 
pious  pastors  of  free  churches.  Independent,  Baptist,  and 
Wesleyan,  as  schismatic  intruders.  Schism  is  called  unity, 
and  unity  stigmatized  as  schism.  The  evangelists,  who 
most  reach  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  poor,  and  without 
whom  the  moral  darkness  of  the  land  would  be  deeper  and 
deadlier  still,  are  represented  as  noxious  ;  and  even  earnest 
Anglicans  are  afraid  to  countenance  and  own  them.  The 
force  of  combined  action  is  worse  than  lost,  and  the  minis- 
ters of  Christ  spend  their  time  in  neutralizing  each  other's 
efforts.  Combined,  they  would  evangelize  the  country  ; 
but  the  union  has  effectually  enfeebled  both,  first,  by  forcing 
its  servants  into  schismatic  separation  from  their  brethren, 
and  then,  by  discountenancing  the  separate  efforts  of  non- 
conformist ministers  and  churches. 

Having  thus  erected  insurmountable  barriers  to  the 
united  efforts  of  Christians,  the  next  work  of  the  state 
union  is  to  prevent  the  separate  efforts  of  zealous  Anglicans 
to  evangelize  the  country.  In  the  first  place,  no  minister 
may  preach  in  any  parish  except  his  own  without  leave 
from  the  bishop — a  license  sure  to  be  withheld  if  he  was 
to  wish  to  enter  upon  any  parish  where  the  incumbent 
does  not  preach  it.  In  the  second  place,  the  bishop's  license 
would  be  vain  ;  for  the  law  forbids  a  minister  to  preach 
in  any  church  or  chapel  in  any  parish  without  the  consent 
of  the  incumbent.  And  lest,  with  the  bishop's  consent,  he 
should  collect  the  people  in  these  benighted  parishes  into  a 


EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  379 

schoolroom,  barn,  or  cottage,  to  hear  the  Gospel,  the  seventy- 
first  canon  ordams,  "  that  no  minister  shall  preach  in  any- 
private  house"  on  pain  of  suspension  for  the  first  ofiense, 
and  excommunication  for  the  second. 

These  laws  have  done  their  work.  Not  a  single  effort 
is  made  by  the  pious  ministers  of  the  Establishment  to 
preach  the  Gospel  exclusively  to  their  countrymen.  As 
6681  parishes  have  less  than  300  souls  in  each,  robust 
and  educated  men  spend  their  energies  upon  200  or  300 
villagers,  with  whom  even,  as  they  are  laboring  on  the 
farms  all  day,  they  have  little  pastoral  intercourse,  and 
leave  thousands  around  them  in  the  deepest  ignorance  of 
the  Gospel.  Not  one  generous  irregularity  breaks  the 
deadly  calm  ;  not  one  complaint  even  interrupts  the  silence. 
The  parochial  system  has  buried  all  in  slumber,  and  in 
view  of  dying  myriads,  each  minister  of  the  Establishment 
seems  to  have  adopted  the  defense  of  Cain,  "  Am  I  my 
brother's  keeper  ?" 

Once,  indeed,  in  our  day,  a  generous  effort  has  been 
made  in  connection  with  the  estabhshed  church  to  invade 
the  regions  of  death.  A  home  missionary  society  was  or- 
ganized in  Ireland,  which,  including  among  its  supporters 
the  best  ministers  in  the  country,  was  from  the  first  emi- 
nently successful.  Station  was  added  to  station,  circuit  to 
circuit,  and  one  minister  after  another  joined  the  zealous 
fraternity  till  the  mission  covered  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
island.  Each  parish  heard  with  astonishment  the  doctrines 
of  grace  preached,  not  by  some  ignorant  fanatic,  but  by  the 
most  able  and  accomphshed  ministers  of  the  Establishment 
successively.  Protestants  flocked  to  hear,  Roman  Catho- 
Hcs  began  to  inquire,  thousands  heard  the  Gospel  who  had 
never  heard  it  before.  On  no  single  effort  of  Protestant 
zeal  in  Ireland  did  the  divine  blessing  more  manifestly  rest ; 
and  every  year  the  prospect  was  brightening,  when  an 
enemy  determined  to  arrest  its  progress.  All  the  indolent 
and  worldly  clergy  were  vexed  and  humbled  when  they 
saw  with  what  zeal  the  associated  ministers  were  preach- 
ing, and  with  what  eagerness  the  people  flocked  to  hear 
them.      An  action  was  brought  against  one  of  the  mission- 


380       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

ary  preachers  for  officiating  in  a  parish  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  incumbent,  and  the  preacher  was  condemned. 
From  that  time  the  opposition  of  the  Irish  prelates  to  the 
scheme  was  more  decided,  and  at  length  this  most  influ- 
ential method  of  reviving  piety  among  the  Protestants, 
and  of  attracting  Roman  Catholics  to  the  Gospel,  was 
renounced  as  uncanonical  and  irregular.  By  that  judg- 
ment the  question  has  been  set  at  rest.  Unconverted  and 
worldly  ministers  in  the  Establishment  are  now  secure  from 
the  intrusion  of  the  Gospel  into  their  moral  deserts,  and 
the  Gospel  is  excluded  from  thousands  of  parishes  where  it 
might  easily  be  preached.  Do  not  the  pious  men  who,  by 
adhering  to  the  Establishment  uphold  this  system,  seem 
responsible  for  the  consequences  ? 

Section  VII. — Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Union 
of  Christians. 

Of  the  numerous  disciples  of  Christ,  regenerated  by  the 
Spirit,  justified  by  faith,  and  living  in  obedience  to  the 
commands  of  Christ  in  the  British  islands,  many  are  to  be 
found  in  the  established  churches  of  England  and  Scotland  ; 
and  a  much  greater  number  in  the  free  churches,  in  the 
Independent,  Baptist,  Wesleyan,  and  Presbyterian  churches 
of  England,  in  the  Presbyterian  and  other  free  churches  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland.  All  these  are  bound  by  many 
obligations  to  be  united  in  heart  and  in  effort  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  They  are  sheep  of  the 
flock  of  Christ,  they  are  fellow-servants  in  his  household, 
they  are  fellow-soldiers  in  his  army,  they  are  members  of 
his  body,  they  are  brethren  of  the  family  of  God.  And  if 
they  are  divided  and  quarrelsome,  it  is  as  unnatural  and 
disgraceful  as  if  the  sheep  of  the  same  flock,  the  servants 
in  the  same  household,  the  soldiers  in  the  same  army,  the 
members  of  the  same  body,  and  the  brothers  of  the  same 
family,  should  be  enemies  to  one  another.  The  reasons 
for  their  union  are  many  and  obvious.  They  are  children 
of  one  Parent  who  loves  them  all,  and  who  wishes  them 
to  be  united ;  they  are  the  servants  of  one  Saviour,  who 


UPON  THE  UNION  OF  CHRISTIANS.  381 

has  redeemed  them  all  by  his  blood,  and  who  would  be 
dishonored  and  grieved  by  their  disunion.  They  maintain 
the  same  great  truths,  they  obey  the  same  authority  ;  they 
are  seeking  alike  to  glorify  God  and  to  save  souls  ;  they  all, 
and  they  alone,  honor  Christ  by  their  lives  ;  they  are  all 
sanctified  by  the  same  Spirit,  have  embraced  the  noblest 
principles,  and  are  adorned  with  the  greatest  social  virtues. 
They  are  all  laboring  to  serve  their  fellow-creatures,  they 
are  opposing  with  similar  zeal  the  vice  and  the  ungodliness 
of  the  world.  God  will  welcome  them  all  as  his  adopted 
children  to  heaven,  and  they  will  spend  eternity  together 
in  the  exercise  of  perfect  affection  toward  each  other.  The 
truths  on  which  they  agree  are  incomparably  gi'eater  than 
those  on  which  they  differ  ;  their  common  interests  are 
much  more  important  than  their  rival  interests  ;  their  own 
welfare,  and  the  welfare  of  the  world,  is  essentially  con- 
nected with  their  union,  and  their  union  is  so  important 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  have  declared 
it  to  be  a  mark  of  discipleship  to  him,  a  prelude  to  the 
world's  belief,  and  therefore  their  necessary  duty.  Let  us 
listen  to  his  words  and  theirs  :  ''A  neiv  commandment  I 
give  unto  you,  that  ye  love  one  another  ;  as  I  have  loved 
you  that  ye  also  love  one  another.  By  this  shall  all  men 
knoiv  tJiat  ye  are  mij  disciples  if  ye  have  love  one  to  an- 
other} .  .  .  Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them 
also  ivhich  shall  believe  on  me  through  their  ivord ;  that 
they  all  may  he  one  ;  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I 
in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  tis  ;  that  the  world 
may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me}  .  .  .  Him  that  is 
%veak  in  the  faith  receive  ye,  but  not  to  doubtful  disputa- 
tions} .  .  .  Wherefore  receive  ye  one  another,  as  Christ 
also  received  us  to  the  glory  of  God}  .  .  .  Noiv,  I  beseech 
ymi,  brethren,  mark  them  ivhich  cause  divisions  and 
offenses  contrary  to  the  doctrine  which  ye  have  learned ; 
and  avoid  them}  .  .  .  Grace  be  ivith  all  them  that  love 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity:'  ^  Whatever,  there- 
fore, hinders  this  union  and  encourages  schism,  both  cor- 

1  Johnxiii.  34,  35.         =  John  xvii.  20,  21  '  Rom.  xiv.  1. 

*  Rom.  XV.  7.  "  Rom.  xvi.  17.  ^  Eph.  vi.  24. 


382        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

rupts  the  churches  and  prevents  the  progress  of  rehgion  in 
the  world. 

But  either  tlie  union  of  the  AngUcan  Churches  with  the 
State,  that  i«,  with  the  world,  must  be  discontinued,  or  their 
union  with  other  churches  must  remain  impossible. 

Let  the  following  canons  of  the  Establishment,  the  living 
law  by  which  its  pastors  are  governed,  and  to  which  the 
judicial  decisions  of  its  prelates  and  ecclesiastical  judges 
must  be  conformed,  be  well  considered. 

Canon  9.  ''Autliors  of  Schis?n  in  the  Church  of  En- 
gland ce?isured.  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  separate  them- 
selves from  the  communion  of  saints,  as  it  is  approved  by 
the  apostles'  rules  in  the  Church  of  England,  and  combine 
themselves  together  in  a  new  brotherhood,  ...  let  them  be 
excommunicated,"  &c. 

Canon  10.  "  Mai?itainers  of  Schismatics  in  the  Church 
of  England  censured.  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm 
that  such  ministers  as  refuse  to  subscribe  to  the  form  and 
manner  of  God's  worship  in  the  Church  of  England  pre- 
scribed in  the  communion  book,  and  their  adherents,  may 
truly  take  unto  them  the  name  of  another  church,  ...  let 
them  be  excommunicated." 

Canon  11.  ^' Maintainers  of  Conventicles  censured. 
Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm  that  there  are  witliin 
this  realm  other  meetings,  assemblies,  or  congregations  of 
the  king's  born  subjects,  than  such  as  by  the  laws  of  the 
land  are  held  and  allowed,  which  may  rightly  challenge  to 
themselves  the  name  of  true  and  lawful  churches,  let  him 
be  excommunicated." 

Canon  12.  *' Maintainers  of  Cotistitutions  tnade  in 
Conventicles  censured.  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  affirm 
that  it  is  lawful  for  any  sort  of  ministers,  and  lay  persons, 
or  of  either  of  them,  to  join  together  and  make  rules,  orders, 
or  constitutions,  in  causes  ecclesiastical  without  the  king's 
authority,  and  shall  submit  themselves  to  be  ruled  and 
governed  by  them,  let  them  be  excommunicated,"  &c. 

Canon  27.  "  Schismatics  "not  to  he  admitted  to  the 
Communion.  No  minister  when  he  celebrateth  the  com- 
munion shall  wittingly  administer  the  same  to  any  but  to  such 


UPON  THE  UNION  OF  CHRISTIANS.  383 

as  kneel,  under  pain  of  suspension,  nor  under  the  like  pain 
to  any  that  refuse  to  be  present  at  public  prayers  according 
to  the  orders  of  the  Church  of  England,  nor  to  any  that 
are  common  and  notorious  depravers  of  the  book  of  common 
prayer,  and  administration  of  the  sacraments,  and  of  the 
orders,  rites,  and  ceremonies,  herein  prescribed,  or  of  any 
thing  that  is  contained  in  any  of  the  articles  ...  or  to  any 
that  have  spoken  aganist  and  depraved  his  majesty's  sov- 
ereign authority  in  causes  ecclesiastical,"  &c. 

By  these  canons  many  of  the  most  sober,  learned,  and 
holy  men  in  this  country,  all  the  Independent,  Baptist, 
Wesley  an,  and  Presbyterian  churches,  and  their  ministers, 
with  all  who  own  them  to  be  true  churches  and  their 
ministers  true  ministers,  are  excommunicated.  They 
are  shut  out  from  the  company  of  Christians  as  heathens 
and  publicans,  with  whom  Christians  ought  to  hold  no 
fellowship,  and  who  are  to  be  excluded  from  the  Lord's 
Supper. 

Episcopal  charges  are  often  in*  harmony  with  these 
canons,  condemning  the  purest  churches,  the  most  zealous 
Christians,  and  the  most  devoted  ministers  of  this  country, 
as  schismatics,  with  whom  the  clergy  should  have  little 
association.  What  may  be  expected  from  proud  and 
worldly-minded  men  when  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  our 
evangelical  bishops  has  thus  written  in  his  latest  charge  ? 
"  Much  less  is  our  church  a  sectarian  body,  as  some  would 
call  it ;  that  is,  a  small  nmnber  of  persons  who  have  cut 
themselves  off  from  the  mass  of  Christians  by  certain 
peculiarities  ;  but  the  national  church  of  the  government, 
nobles,  and  people,  of  our  religious  country  at  home  and 
abroad.  .  .  .  Walk  in  charity  and  holy  wisdom  toward  the 
different  bodies  of  Christians  not  of  our  own  church.  The 
less  we  are  draivn  into  either  fmniliarity  or  controversij 
with  either  of  tliem  the  better.''  To  violate  the  plain  and 
positive  direction  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  "  Him  that  is  weak 
in  the  faith  receive  ye"  {7TpoG?,a{j,(3dvEa6£^) ;   "  Receive  ye 

*  Upoalanlidvo),  in  the  middle  voice,  is  to  take  to  oneself,  as  a 
helper  or  partner.  Generally,  in  the  New  Testament,  it  expresses 
open  and  manifest  association  with  another,  and  not  any  mere  feeling. 


384        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

one  another"  (jrpoaXafilSdvEGde  dXXrjXovg)  openly  to  your 
friendship  and  famiUarity,  seems  to  this  excellent  bishop 
"holy  wisdom,"  Alas  I  it  is  a  wisdom  which  "descendeth 
not  from  above"  (James  iii.  15).  What  may  we  not  look 
for  from  weak  and  pompous  incumbents  when  one  of  the 
most  able  and  pious  of  our  Anglican  ministers  has  lately 
written  thus  when  assigning  some  reasons  why  he  would 
not  join  the  Evangelical  Alliance  ?  "  Speaking  for  myself,  I 
feel  myself  pledged  most  willingly  to  the  Episcopal  Established 
Church  of  England,  mid  I  can  do  nothing  ivhich  merges 
tliat  church  as  one  of  many  coeqilal  sects  in  lEnglandr 
To  associate  with  dissenters  in  the  Evangelical  Alliance 
places  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Establishment  on 
an  equality  with  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  free 
churches  ;  and  this  is  what  this  exellent  minister  can  not 
do.  Notwithstanding  his  dissent,  the  Establishment  is  only 
one  among  various  coequal  sects  in  England ;  its  pious 
members  are  bound  by  apostolic  precept  to  receive  the 
members  of  other  churches  as  brethren,  that  is,  their  equals 
in  the  Lord  ;  but  then  because  it  is  established,  that  is, 
united  with  the  world,  paid,  honored,  and  flattered  by  the 
world,  this  excellent  minister  can  not  so  recognize  them. 
With  him,  therefore,  the  union  is  clearly  the  great  hin- 
drance to  brotherhood.  Were  there  no  pretensions  of  an 
Establishment  to  be  maintained,  he  would  associate  with 
the  good  and  the  wise  of  other  denominations  ;  but  the 
supremacy  of  the  EstabHshment  must  not  be  endangered, 
and  for  its  sake  he  must  shun  their  society.  It  is  precisely 
when  his  disciples  are  dishonored  and  depressed  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  calls  all  who  are  not  so  troubled  to  own, 
honor,  and  help  them  :  ^  exactly  because  the  brethren  of 
Christ  in  dissenting  churches  are  not  honored  by  tlie  State, 
should  their  Anglican  brethren  manifest  all  brotherly  kind- 
ness toward  them  ;  but  the  union  so  inflates  the  mind,  and 
so  warps  the  judgment,  of  even  good  and  able  men  in  the 

(Acts  xvii.  5;  xviii.  26;  xxviii.  2;  Philem.  12,  17,  &c.)  This 
open,  generous  fellowship  with  all  our  Christian  brethren  Paul  en- 
joins, and  the  good  bishop  forbids. 

^  Let  the  reader  consider  attentively  Matt.  xxv.  31-46. 


■^  ■  UPON  THE  UNION  OF  CHRISTIANS.  385 

Establisliment,  that  they  think  it  their  cltityl^o  augment  and 
ta  perpetuate  their  depression.  • 

Answerable  to  these  canons  and  maxims  is,  unhappily, 
the  usual  practice  of  the  EstabHshment.  No  young  dis- 
senter, however  great  his  abilities,  however  rare  his  attain- 
ments, and  however  estimable  his  character,  can  take  a 
degree  at  either  Cambridge  or  Oxford.  No  minister  of  a 
dissenting  church,  however  eloquent,  wise,  or  holy,  can  be 
admitted  to  an  Anglican  pulpit.  The  most  consistent 
members  of  unestablished  churches  are  excluded  from  the 
table  of  their  Lord,  against  his  wishes,  when  Anglicans 
assemble  at  it.  Even  when  they  meet  to  celebrate  the 
love  of  the  P^edeemer  to  his  whole  family,  Anglicans  ex- 
clude his  beloved  friends  from  his  own  table.  Let  a  Roman 
Catholic  priest,  who  has  spent  his  life  in  misleading  the 
people  by  superstitious  doctrines  and  practices  which  he 
did  not  believe,  renounce  communion  with  the  Church  of' 
Rome,  though  with  an  unconverted  heart,  as  poof  Blanco 
White,  and  he  is  recognized  at  once  as  a  minister  of  the 
Establishment ;  but  the  most  devoted  ministers  of  Christ 
in  England,  Scotland,  or  Ireland,  whose  talents  and  virtues 
are  an  honor  to  their  country,  who  have  been  regularly 
ordained  as  pastors  in  their  own  denomination,  and  upon 
whose  ministry  God  has  set  the  seal  of  his  approbation  by 
the  conversion  of  hundreds  ;  if  they  are  non-conformists, 
must  be'  reordained  by  the  hands  of  a  prelate,  or  the  eccle-^ 
siastical  law  will  still  account  them  intrusive  laymen  ;  and' 
will  sternly  deny  them,  even  as  conformists  and  Anglicans^- 
the  right  of  preaching  to  the  people.'- 

The  more  private  intercourse  of  Anglicans  with  their 
brethren  of  free  churches  becomes,  under  these  circum-- 
stances,  exceedingly  restricted.  Few  of  the  clergy  will  sit 
on  the  same  committee  with  dissenters.  Few  join  the  Bi- 
ble Society  or  the  Tract  Society;  and  fewer  still  the  Lon- 
don City  Mission  or  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  although  the 
tokens  of  the  blessing  of  God  have  been  abundant  in  the 
history  of  each  of  these  four  institutions.  Against  the  lat- 
ter, evangelical  ministers  and  magazines  have  been  violent 
and  unfair.      An  archbishop  has  declared  he  will  withdraw 

R 


386       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

his  license  from  any  curate  who  joins  it ;  and,  under  the 
dread  of  prelates  and  patrons,  of  incumbents  and  canons, 
nearly  all  the  curates  of  the  Establishment,  and  all  but 
about  300  of  the  incumbents,  have  refused  to  ofier  this 
manifestation  of  brotherly  kindness  to  their  fellow-disciples. 

Friendly,  social  intercourse  of  a  more  domestic  character 
between  Anglican  and  other  pastors  is  almost  wholly  un- 
known. Out  of  16,000  clergy,  are  there  sixty  who  are  in 
habits  of  friendly  association  with  dissenting  pastors  at  their 
own  houses  ?  In  their  paradise  of  privilege,  smiled  on  by 
parliaments  and  patrons,  Anglican  pastors  seem  to  say  to 
all  others,  "  Between  us  and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed." 

Political  enmity,  as  might  be  expected,  rolls  in  its  thun- 
dering tides  to  widen  the  gulf  still  more.  Prerogatives  to 
be  preserved  make  the  clergy  eager  political  Conservatives ; 
while  wrongs  to  be  redressed,  and  mischiefs  to  be  abated, 
hurry  dissenting  pastors  into  association  with  the  Whigs. 
Both  grow  eager,  both  dislike  each  other  for  that  eagerness, 
and  the  strife  between  them  grows  more  acrimonious.  The 
unnatural  schism,  product  of  a  union  no  less  unnatural, 
confirms  unbelievers  in  their  skepticism,  prolongs  the  noxious 
existence  of  Roman  Catholic  priestcraft,  and  perpetuates 
the  world's  levity  and  ungodliness. 

For  all  these  mischiefs  who  are  chiefly  responsible  ? 
Were  the  union  between  the  Anglican  Churches  and  the 
world  dissolved,  their  union  with  other  churches  of  Christ 
would  become  practicable.  And  if  evangelical  ministers 
so  cherish  their  union  with  the  world  as  to  make  their 
union  with  their  brethren  impracticable,  will  they  not  have 
to  answer  for  it  to  God  and  to  posterity  ?  And  when 
future  generations  shall  have  to  pronounce  that  their  vir- 
tues and  wisdom  lent  the  adulterous  union  of  the  church 
with  the  world  its  chief  support,  and  more  than  any  other 
cause  prolonged  the  schism  which  rent  the  churches  of 
Christ,  will  not  the  Christians  of  happier  days,  in  the  un-/ 
known  future,  record  their  conduct  with  deep  regret  ? 
With  shame  and  sorrow  will  the  Christian  historian  of 
those  times  have  to  speak  of  the  Anglican  Churches  of  our 
day  in  the  following  tone  : — 


UPON  THE  UNION  OF  CHRISTIANS.  387 

"  The  Anglican  Churches  of  that  day  placed  themselves 
under  the  spiritual  government  of  a  legislature  composed 
of  all  sorts  of  characters,  chosen  by  the  world  and  repre- 
senting the  w^orld.  They  were  commanded  to  come  out  of 
the  world  and  to  be  separate  ;  they  were  assured  that  the 
friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  to  God  ;  they  knew  that 
they  were  commanded  not  to  be  conformed  to  the  world, 
not  to  love  the  world,  because  if  any  man  love  the  world 
the  love  of  the  father  is  not  in  him ;  ^  but  they  voluntarily 
sought  the  world's  society,  accepted  the  world's  bribes, 
allowed  the  world  dominion  over  them,  and  were  so  blend- 
ed with  the  world  that  the  world  seemed  the  church  and 
the  church  the  world.  Their  prelates  were  nominees  of 
statesmen,  who  were  generally  worldly  men,  and  were  often, 
therefore,  worldly-minded  as  their  patrons.  These  worldly 
prelates  they  owned  as  the  embassadors  of  Christ,  and 
gave  them  a  despotic  dominion  over  themselves  and  their 
pastors.  The  aristocracy  chose  their  pastors,  whence  it 
happened  often  that  worldly  pastors  "Were  chosen  by  world- 
ly patrons  and  ordained  by  worldly  bishops.  In  utter 
neglect  of  the  qualifications  of  a  Christian  pastor,  detailed 
in  the  New  Testament,  they  allowed  to  these  worldly 
pastors,  who  were  themselves  ignorant  of  the  Gospel,  such 
a  power  of  excluding  the  Gospel  from  their  parishes,  that 
no  evangelical  Anglican  could  ever  preach  to  them.  All 
the  children  of  the  parish  were  admitted  to  baptism  ;  all 
the  gay  and  the  thoughtless,  after  confirmation,  to  the 
Lord's  table.  The  discipline  of  each  church  they  com- 
mitted to  the  care  of  ecclesiastical  judges  appointed  by  the 
law,  and  to  lawyers  whose  acquaintance  with  the  ecclesi- 
astical laws  afix)rded  no  security  that  they  either  knew  or 
loved  the  Gospel.  Amid  this  confused  and  worldly  mass 
in  the  Anglican  Churches,  the  true  disciples  of  Christ  were 
few  and  scattered ;  but  they  justified,  with  a  strange  tenaci- 
ty, the  adulterous  union  of  the  church  with  the  world. 
And  because  their  dissenting  brethren,  as  vvdse  and  holy  as 
themselves,  protested  against  it,  they  disowned  them,  they 
refused  to  them  their  pulpits,  banished  them  from  the  table 

^  2  Cor.  vi.  14,  17;  James  iv.  4;  Rom.  xii.  2;   1  John  ii.  15 


388"^       INFLtJENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

of  the  Lordj  shut  the  doors  of  then*  houses  against  them, 
and  would  never  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord  by  their  side. 
And  yet  these  men,  so  linked  to  the  world,  so  buiied  in  the 
world,  were  Christians.  They  maintained  the  doctrines 
of  grace,  they  lived  pious  lives,  they  were  estimable  and 
useful  ministers.  How  strangely  may  habit,  interest,  and 
prejudice,  blind  even  the  best  men  to  obvious  duty  I" 

There  are  some  noble  exceptions  to  the  general  practice, 
but  do  these  do  all  that  they  should  ?  Why  should  pious 
churches  and  their  pastors  wait  for  others  to  heal  the 
schism  ?  let  them  heal  it  for  themselves.  Let  eveiy  liberal 
and  loyal  disciple  of  Christ  in  the  Establishment  own  pious 
dissenters  as  brethren,  their  churches  as  churches,  their 
ministers  as  ministers  of  Christ ;  let  them  support  zealously 
those  societies  in  which  pious  and  peaceable  men  of  various 
sects  work  harmoniously  together,  especially  the  Evangeli- 
cal Alliance,  the  best  testimony  on  behalf  of  the  duty  of  ■ 
brotherly  kindness  to  all  our  fellow-Christians  Avhich  has 
been  given  in  our  day  ;  let  them  attend  dissenting  chapels, 
support  dissenting  missions,  receive  with  them  the  Supper 
of  the  Lord,  ask  them  to  their  houses,  and  claim  for  them 
admission  to  the  pulpits  of  the  established  churches  :  then 
they  will  lulfill  the  command  of  Christ  by  his  apostle^ 
^'Receive  ye  one  aTiother^  as  Christ  aZm  received. us , to. 
the  glory  of  God y  ';';vo  Wiw,-)  inviii-^aL  {i'..oiloT>jf.cv^i  .ut 
.  ;,    ;  i;i;^:rq•J;;i   o:    !;■;:! iifibc  'rvyu   {iiiiRq  -^r-dl  lo  ii5j'ihiid'>  ^t\*. 

Section  XiII.-^-tInnuence  of  the  Union  ori  the  M^fc^niaz 


.f  f. 


^)m 


tion  of  the  Churches. 


When  churches  discover  that  they  have  fallen  into  error 
and  sin,  they  ought  at  once  to  repent  and  reform  themselves. 
To  each  church  within  the  Establishment,  and  to  its  pas- 
tor, does  our  Lord  still  speak  by  his  epistles  to  the  church^ 
of  Asia  Minor  thus  :  "J  have  somewhat  against  thee, 
because  tlvou  hast  left  thy  first  love.  Remember,  there- 
fore, from  ivhence  thou  art  fallen,  and  do  the  first  works,; 
or  else  I  will  come  unto  thee  quickly,  and  toill  remove 
thy  candlestick  out  of  his  'place,  eoxept  thou  repent,  ... 
/  have  afcio  things  against  thee,  because  thou.  Iiast  there 


Or^.5r;HE  EIJFORMATION  OF  THE  CHURCHES.      389" 

tjiem  that  hold  the. doctrine  of  Balaam.  !  .=  .  .  Repent,  or > 
else-  I.  will  come  unto  thee  quickly,  and  wiU  fight  against 
thenp,with  the  sword  of  my  iiwuth.  .  .  .  Be  ivatchfid,  a7td 
strengthen  thC:  things  tvhich  remain,  tliat  are  ready  to 
die  ;  for  I  liave  not  found  'thy  ivorks  perfect  before  God. 
Remeviber,  therefore,  Iww  tJwu  Jiast  received  and  heard; 
and  hold  fast  and  repent. ..  If ,  therefore,  thousJialt  not. 
tvatch,  I  willconw  o<rp  thee /as  a  thief-',  ,  >  I.  knoio  tJiy. 
works  that  tJwu  art  neither  cold  nor  Jwt :  I  would  thoi(,\ 
wert  cold  or  hot.  .  .  .As  inany  as  J  love  I  rebuke  a?id 
chasten :  be  zealous,  therefore,  and  repent :  .  .  .  he  tliat 
hath  an  ear  let  him  hear  what,  the^  Spirit  saith  unto  tlm: 
churches.'''^  -..itijoimjramoozy  wcAlot  j'iiiod?.  fesofisups?. 
,  Much  reformation  is  urgently  needed  throughbut'th^ 
|lstablishment.  The  State  should  no  longer  exercise  any 
supremacy  in  spiritual  things  over  the  churches,  who  ought 
in  temporal  things  to  be  subject  to  the  queen  and  to  th& 
Parliament  as  all  other  subjects  are,  but  in  spiritual  things- 
should  be  subject  to  Christ  alone.  t*relates,  if  they  con-: 
tjjBiue  at  all,;shonld  no  longer  be  nominated  by  the  Crownj 
nor  ,sit  in  Parhament,  nor  be  ennobled  by  their  episcopate^ 
but  be  simply  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  chosen,  as  in  the 
United  States,  by  the  churches  and  ministers  over  whom 
they  are  to  preside.  Each  church,  according  to  Christ's 
law,  should  nominate  its  own  pastor.  Presbyters,  inde- 
pendent of  the  bishop,  should  be  associated  with  him  in 
t^e  examination  and  ordination  of  ministers.  A  declaration. 
of  belief  in  the  Bible  as  the  inspired  word  of  God,  and  a 
general  acceptance  of  the  thirty-nine  articles  in  their  plain' 
meaning,  ought  to  be  substituted  for  an  insincere  and  en^ 
snaring  subscription  to  the  prayer-book.  The  canons, 
liturgy,  rubrics,  and  .  articles^  should  be  re-considered,  and 
mxide  harmonious  with  the  word  of  God.  The  baptismal 
and  burial  services  should  be  amended.  The  sale  of  liv- 
ings, that  is,  the  sale  of  souls,  ought  to  be  repudiated  by 
the  churches.  The  tyranny  of  the  Episcopal  license  ought 
to  be  abolished,  and  all  ministers  who  have  been  solemnly 
|,4fp^tt^d  to  .th^L, ministry  as  call&d  to,  it  by  the  Holy  Ghosts 
1  Rev.  u.  4,,5^  14,  >6j,iii.;?^,g,  15,  19,  22. 


390       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

ought  to  have  full  liberty  to  exercise  their  ministry  in  con- 
formity with  Christ's  laws  and  the  regulations  of  the 
churches.  Pastors  who  are  free  from  church  censures 
ought  to  be  permitted  to  preach  Christ  freely  in  every  part 
of  the  kingdom,  subject,  of  course,  to  church  censure,  should 
they  in  the  ministry  be  guilty  of  any  offense  against  Christ 
or  their  brethren.  The  exercise  of  church  discipline  should 
again  be  vested  in  the  church  and  its  pastor,  according  to 
apostolic  usage.  The  administration  of  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper  should  be  rendered  le^s  indiscriminate.  Bad 
members  of  churches  ought  to  be  warned  by  the  church, 
and,  if  necessary,  excommunicated.  No  secular  legal  con- 
sequences should  follow  excommunication ;  bad  pastors 
should  be  removable  from  any  church  by  the  votes  of 
three-fourths  of  the  members.  Pious  dissenting  pastors 
ought  to  be  admitted  to  Anglican  pulpits,  and  pious  dis- 
senters to  the  Lord's  Supper  in  Anglican  churches.  The 
churches  should  be  more  separated  from  the  world,  and 
more  united  with  their  fellow-Christians.  To  effect  these 
objects,  the  Establishment  ought  to  have  the  right  of  self- 
government  restored  to  it  by  the  State,  free  from  all  State 
control  in  spiritual  things. 

If  the  Establishment  were  an  association  of  free  churches, 
these  reforms  might  be  easily  eifected  ;  but  the  union  pre- 
vents their  accomplishment.  No  authority  at  present  ex- 
isting in  the  church  can  effect  them.  A  vast  power  is, 
indeed,  lodged  with  the  Crown  by  the  following  terms  of 
1  Ehz.  cap.  1  :  "  Any  such  jurisdiction,  privileges,  superi- 
orities and  pre-eminences,  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical,  as  by 
any  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical  power  or  authority,  have 
heretofore  been  or  may  lawfully  be  exercised  or  used  for 
the  visitation  of  the  ecclesiastical  state  and  persons,  and 
for  the  reformation,  order,  and  correction  of  the  same,  and 
of  all  manner  of  errors,  heresies,  schisms,  offenses,  con- 
tempts, and  enormities,  shall  forever  be  united  and  annexed 
to  the  imperial  crown  of  this  realm."  ^  But  this  power  is 
unscriptural,  and  could  not  now  be  tolerated  in  its  full  ex- 
ercise either  by  Parliament  or  by  the  churches.  Bishops 
^  Burn,  vol.  iii.  p.  659. 


ON  THE  REFORMATION  OF  THE  CHURCHES       391 

neither  have,  nor  ought  to  have,  such  power.  And  that  the 
churches  may  reform  themselves,  some  general  assembly  is 
needed,  which  might  examine  their  whole-  condition,  and 
legislate  accordingly. 

But  such  an  assembly  the  legislature  will  never  grant : 
when  the  Convocation  was  prorogued  in  1717  it  was 
nullified  forever.  Any  revived  representation  of  the  Es- 
tablishment which  should  be  more  than  a  name  would 
raise  so  many  hazardous  questions,  would  engage  in  s>uch 
obstinate  disputes,  and,  if  ever  united,  would  wield  a  power 
so  inconvenient  to  each  successive  government  that  no 
statesman  will  venture  to  permit  it..  The  discussions  of 
the  Scotch  assembly,  their  vigorous  legislation,  the  resist 
ance  of  the  patrons,  and  the  apparition  of  the  vast  Free 
Church  rising  armed  from  the  rolling  vapors  of  those 
stormy  debates,  have  made  our  statesmen  dread  any  similar 
experiment  in  England.  Without  the  assent  of  the  queen 
no  Convocation  has  any  right  to  assemble,  and  that  assent 
will  be  withheld.  When  met,  the  Convocation  could  not 
act,  since  without  a  fresh  assent  no  Convocation  can  form 
a  single  canon  ;  without  a  further  assent  no  canons  can  be 
executed  even  when  formed,  and  after  the  royal  assent  has 
been  fully  given,  canons  may  bind  the  clergy,  but  can  not 
bind  the  churches  till  they  are  ratified  by  act  of  Parlia- 
ment.^ Will  Parliament  ever  intrust  to  a  Convocation 
this  perilous  business  of  reform  ? 

Should  the  legislature,  however,  give  to  a  Convocation 
unfettered  liberty  to  reform  the  churches,  it  would  imme- 
diately manifest  its  incompetency.  The  lower  house  of 
Convocation  consists  of  twenty-two  deans,  twenty-four 
proctors  of  chapters,  fifty-three  archdeacons,  and  forty-four 
proctors  for  the  parochial  clergy.  There  are,  therefore, 
ninety-nine  dignitaries  and  representatives  of  cathedrals, 
forty-four  representatives  of  the  cle^g)^  and  no  representa- 
tives of  churches.  Dignitaries  are  very  slow  to  reform 
abuses  of  which  their  own  privileges  form  a  part ;  civilians 
are  very  reluctant  to  remodel  laws  which  form  their  pro- 
fessional science.  And  if  the  forty-four  lavi^ers  who  rep- 
1  Burn,  vol.  ii.  pp.  30,  24,  27. 


$92       INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

xesent  the  clergy  were  disposed  to  reform  the  E&tahUshment, 
what  could  they  do  against  the  ninety-iiine  votes  pledged 
to  privilege  ?  Such  a  Convocation  would  be  useless,  even 
if  the  desire  of  reform  were  general  in  the  country.  But 
that  desire  is  wanting.  The  bishops  are  against  a  reform, 
because  it  would  remove  their  successors  from  the  House 
of  Lords,  and  by  implication  condemn  their  own  baronial 
dignity ;  patrons  are  against  it,  because  it  would,  perhaps,: 
destroy  their  right  to  enrich  their  families  with  clmrch 
property  ;  incumbents  are  against  it,  because  it  would 
invade  their  spiritual  monopoly,  making  them  dependent 
ou.  their  congregations  ;  and  the  churches  care  little  for  it, 
because  it  would,  perhaps,  impose  on  them  the  burden  of: 
paymg  their  own  pastors.,  If  among  the  pastors  of  the 
Anglican  Churches  there  are  any  earnest  and  generous 
men  who  mourn  over  the  disgraceful  state  of  these  churches, 
they  can  scarcely  think  of  reformatiou  with  safety.  Who-, 
ever  affirms  that  the  rites  of  the  church  are  superstitious 
is  excommunicated;  whoever  declares  the  present  gpvemT 
ment  of  the  Establishment  to  be  repugnant  to  the  word  of. 
God  is  excommunicated  ;  whoever  affirms  that  the  form 
of  consecrating  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  containeth  in 
it  any  thing  repugnant  to  the  word  of  God  is  excommmiir 
cated  ;  and  those  are  also  excommunicated  who  affirm  that 
dissenting  ministers  anci  their,  adherents  are  churches  of -^ 
Christ.^  Any  meetings  of  ministers  to  consider  how  they 
might  promote  the  reformation  of  the  Establishment  would 
expose  them  to  the  same  penalty,  accordmg  to  the  following 
enactment  of  the  seventy-third  canon  :  "  Inasmuch  as  all 
conventicles  and  secret  meetings  of  priests  and  ministers 
have  ,ever  been  justly  accounted  very  hurtful  to  the  state 
of  tfi^e  church  wherein  they  live,  -we  do  now  ordam  and 
constitute,  that  no  priests  or  ministers  of  the  word  of  God,, 
or  any  other  persons,  shall  meet  together,  in  any  private 
house,  or  elsewhere,  to  consult  upon  any  matter  or  course 
to  be  taken  by  them,  or  upon  their  motion  and  direction  by 
any  other,  ^vhiGh  may  any  way  tend  to  the  impeaching  or 
depraving  Q^tJ^g|dPjQ^ri»e,  of  the  Chi^oh  of  ^5:nglanvl,  ,q^jJj_ 


ON  THE  REFORMATION  OF  THE  CHURCHES.      393; 

the  book  of  common  prayer,  or  of  any  part  of  the  goveru- 
ment  and  discipline  now  established  in  the  Church  of  En^: 
gland,  under  pain  of  excommunication  ipso  facto.  ...  A: 
man  under  excommunication  can  neither  sue  in  any  action 
nor  make  his  will ;  and  if  he  remain  forty  days  without 
satisfying  the  bhurcl^  may  be  arrested  and  imprisoned  by 
a  writ  cle  excommunicato  capiendo.'''  ^  With  these  ruinous 
penalties  before  their  eyes,  there  can  be  no  confidential 
discussions  among  ministers  of  the  Establishment  respecting 
its  errors  and  faults,  nor,  indeed,  any  free  inquiry.  They; 
are  yoked  to  its  car,  and  must  help  to  drag  it  along  the 
ruts  which  centuries  have  wrought  into  its  roEid  ;  and 
though  they  see  that  there  is  a  precipice  before :  them  they 
can  neither  stop  nor  turn.  Few  even  wish  it  to  be  re- 
formed. In  all  ages  and  countries  the  ptrimleged  classes 
liave  stuck  to  privilege  till  it  ivas  too  late. 

These  facts  account  for  the  remarkable  silence  on  these 
matters  which  is  maintained  by  all  classes  in  the  Estab- 
lishment. If  the  churches  had  been  spiritual  and.  free,: 
coextensive  with  the  population  of  the  country,  and  abound-, 
ing  in  the  fruits  of  piety,  if  all  its  ministers  had  been  ex-, 
emplary,  its  temples  filled  with  attentive  congregations,  fits 
churches  all  gr&wing  in  grace,  there  could  scarcely  have 
been  a  more  complete  absence  of  self  condemnation  and 
complaint  among  the  clergy  than  there  is  at  present. 
Even  the  most  pious  utter  no  remonstrance  against  crying 
evils  and  avert  their  eyes  from  them.  They  can  study 
every  branch  of  polite  literature,  discuss  political  questions, 
examine  unfulfilled  prophecies,  expose  the  fallacies  of  Uo- 
manism,  or  refute  the  reasonings  of  infidels;  but  that 
which  claims  their  first  attention,  upon  which  their  inves- 
tigations ought  to  be  the  most  earnest,  their  conclusions  the- 
most  clear,  their  efibrts  the  most  energetic,  can  not  evoke 
one  expression  of  opinion,  or  secure  even  superficial  inquiry. 
Among  all  the  events  of  our  own  day,  none  have  involved 
more  important  principles,  or  have  called  forth  greater  vir- 
tues, than  the  establishment  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land, and  the  persecution  of  the  Free  Churoh  ^ftCV^-ud.. 
1  Burn,  vol.  ii.  pp   245,  247,  248.'     ivxl  rifiiael  ^ 


394        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

Neither  have  excited  more  than  a  passing  and  partial  in- 
terest in  members  of  the  Establishment.  Few  have  stud- 
ied their  principles.  Most,  even  of  the  pious  Anglicans 
with  whom  I  have  conversed,  have  condemned  those 
churches  without  any  examination,  or  disliked  them  with- 
out any  definite  cause  for  their  dislike.  The  reasons  are 
plain  to  all  the  world. 

I  have  no  hope,  therefore,  of  a  general  reformation  orig- 
inating with  the  Establishment.  The  government  dare 
not  attempt  it.  The  dignitaries  of  the  church  have  nei- 
ther the  will  nor  the  power  requisite,  and  the  most  pious 
of  its  members  are  fettered.  Those  persons,  therefore,  w^ho 
remain  within  the  Establishment  support  its  abuses  with- 
out any  rational  prospect  of  seeing  them  removed.  Appa- 
rently the  errors  and  scandals  connected  with  the  system. 
must  last  as  long  as  the  system  itself;  and  it  becomes  a 
serious  question  for  a  pious  man  to  answer.  Whether  he 
may  uphold  those  evils  by  adhering  to  it,  for  the  sake  of 
his  own  ease,  from  consideration  of  the  interests  of  his 
family,  or  from  regard  to  any  supposed  expediency  what- 
soever ? 

The  only  remedy  within  reach  is  for  each  church  and 
pastor,  who  see  these  evils,  to  do  their  duty  by  reforming 
themselves  without  waiting  for  others.  Those  who  "  trem- 
ble at  the  word  of  God"  ^  ought  solemnly,  as  in  his  pre- 
sence, to  consider  their  duty  in  this  matter.  ''Let  every 
man  he  fully  2>ersuaded  in  his  own  mind.  .  .  .  Happy  is 
he  tJiat  coTidem^neth  not  himself  i^t  that  thifig  ivhich  he  al- 
loweth.  .  .  .  For  whatsoever  isnot  of  faith  is  si7iy^  Let  each 
keep  a  good  conscience,  and  do  what  he  believes  the  Judge 
will  at  the  last  day  approve.  Each  church  can  refuse  to 
receive  any  longer  a  salary  from  the  government  for  its 
pastor,  and  can  pay  the  salary  itself.  It  can  therefore, 
nominate  its  own  pastor.  It  can  dismiss  an  ungodly  pastor 
and  choose  a  pious  pastor  instead.  It  can  resume,  accord- 
ing to  Christ's  law,  the  exercise  of  discipline.  It  can  sep- 
arate from  the  world,  by  excluding  from  the  Lord's  table 
those  who  are  known  to  be  frivolous  and  ungodly.      It  can 

'  Isaiah  Ixvi.  2.  ^  Rom.  xiv.  5,  22,  23. 


PROGRESS  OF  RELIGION  IN  THE  COUNTRY.       395 

unite  with  all  Christians  in  preaching,  in  prayer,  in  the 
sacraments,  in  benevolent  action,  and  in  social  fellowship. 
It  can  hold  church-meetings  with  a  view  to  promote  broth- 
erly feeling  among  the  mem.bers,  to  unite  in  social  prayer, 
to  seek  a  revival  of  religion  among  them,  and  to  consider 
how  they  may  benefit  their  neighborhood  ;  and  pastors  may 
aid  and  encourage  their  churches  to  effect  this  godly  reform, 
leaving  the  consequences  to  God  in  the  assurance  that  he 
does  not  forget  his  promises,  "  Them  that  honor  me  I  will 
honor,  and  they  that  despise  me  sliall  be  lightly  esteemed} 
.  .  .  Therefore,  take  no  thought,  saying,  What  shall  ive 
eat  ?  or,  What  shall  ive  drink  ?  or,  Whereivithal  sliall 
we  be  clothed?  For  after  all  these  things  do  the  Gen- 
tiles seek ;  for  your  heavenly  Father  knoiveth  that  ye 
have  need  of  all  these  things.  But  seek  ye  first  the  khig- 
dom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  these  things 
sliall  be  added  unto  you'""^ 

Section  IX. — hifluence  of  the  Union  upon  the  Progress 
of  Religion  in  the  Country. 

All  men  are  created  by  their  Maker  for  his  own  glory ; 
and  they  are  therefore  required  to  love  him  with  all  their 
heart,  to  obey  his  laws,  to  be  devoted  to  his  service  ;  and 
since  they  have  neglected  all  this,  through  the  corruption 
of  their  nature,  he  expects  that  they  repent  of  their  sins, 
seek  his  mercy  through  faith  in  the  atoning  sacrifice  of 
Christ,  and  earnestly  implore  the  renovation  iand  sanctifica- 
tion  of  their  hearts  by  the  influence  of  his  Holy  Spirit.^ 
Failing  to  do  this,  they  remain  in  the  condition  described 
in  the  following  passages  of  the  word  of  God  :  ''He  that 
believeth  7iot  the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of 
God  abideth  on  hiiJi.  .  .  .  He  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
dmnned.  .  .  .  As  many  as  are  of  the  icorks  of  the  laio  are 
under  the  curse ;  for  it  is  written,   Cursed  is  every  one 

^  1  Sara.  ii.  30.  ^  Matt.  vi.  31-33. 

^  Prov.  xvi.  4;  Rom.  xi.  36;  Rev.  iv.  11;  Matt.  xxii.  37; 
Eccles.  xii.  13;  1  Cor.  vi.  30;  Rom.  xii.  1;  Matt.  v.  3;  Luke 
xiii.  2-5;  Mark  xvi.  16;  John  iii.  16;  iii.  3,  5;  Luke  xi.  13 


396        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UrON  THINGS. 

,that  covt.iriuetli  'not  in  all  thing?,  which  are  ivritten  in 
the  hook  of  the  law  to  do  them.  .  .  .  If  any  man  love  fwt 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let  him  he  anathema  onaranatha, 
an  apmr&ed  thing.  .  .  .  When  the  Lwd  cometh,  he  will 
[purn  %tp  the  cliaff  with  unquenchahle  fire.  .  .  .-  When  the 
Lord  Jesus  shall  he  revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty 
q^ngels  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that 
know  not  God,  and  tluit  obey  'iint  tlie  Gospel  of  our  Lord 
J[esMS  Christ;  lohosliall  be 'punished  with  everlasting  de- 
structiori  from  the  presence  of  the  Jjyrd,  arid  from  the 
Qlory  of  his  poivcr,  when  he  shall  cowbe  to  he  glorified  in 
4iis  saints,  and  to  be  admired  in  all  tlwm  that  believe. ^^^ 

It  is  essential  to  men's  welfare  that  they  should  be  con- 
verted, sanctified  and  saved,  ''WJiat  is  a  man  2^'i'ofited  if 
lie  shall  gain  the  tvhole  ivorld  and  lose  his  own  soulV^ 
The  progress  of  true  religion,  therefore,  in  a  nation,  is  of  more 
consequence  to  it  than  its  liberties  and  laws,  its  industry 
and  its  commerce.  Without  religion  its  inhabitants  perish  ; 
and  religion  carries  with  it  hberty,  prosperity,  and  power. 

But  when  our  Redeemer  was  on  the  earth,  he  said  to 
his  relations  in  Galilee,  "-The  ivoHd  can  not  hate  you; 
but  me  it  hateth,.hccauM  J  testify  of  it  tlwut  the  ivorks 
thereof  are  evil^l-l  e,v3i^^e  samp  dislike  still  attaches  to  his 
Gospel.  ,  Menjin  general,  are  still  unwilling  to  submit  to  his 
holy  law.  ''The  carnal  Qnind  is  emnity  against  God,  far 
it  is  not  subject  to  tJie  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can 
he.''  ^  And  nothing  but  the  influence  of  earnest  and  con- 
sistent Christians  can  turn  them  to  God.  The  word  of 
God,  though  a  perfect  revelation  of  himself  and  of  his  will, 
lies  neglected  and  unknown  "vy here  there,  are  not  living 
Christians  to  vindicate  its  claims.  But  earnest  and  con- 
sistent believers  call  attention  to  it,  enforce  its  authority, 
expound  its  meaning,  illustrate  its  principles  by  their  lives, 
prove  by  their  own  experience  that  obedience  to  its  laws  is 
practicable,  compel  men  to  see: the  beauty  as  well,  as  the 
possibility  of  true    religion,   and    draw  sinners    to   Christ. 

'  John  iii.   39 ;  Marli^^xvL  iiejy^ak  iii>  .^0 ;  1   Cor.  xvi:  22; 

Matt.  iii.  12;  2  Thesg.  iH^-.iiS.jT  ^OE  .iv  .toO  =»  Matt.  xvi.  26.   a 

""  John  vii.  7.  ^   ;:;     r>r   ;ii  nvjA   ;cl  .1*  Rom.  viii.  7.  liJx 


PROea^^  Of  jRELIGIOiN  IN  THE  COUNTRY.        397 

And  this  is  their  vocation.  '■'■Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth. 
Ye  are  the  light  of  the  taorld.  JLet  your  light  so  shine 
before  men  that  they  may.  see  yo^r -good  toper ks^  and  glo- 
tify  your  FatJier  tvhich  is  ih  hdaven.  .  .  .  I  beseech  you, 
therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present 
your  bofUes  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  to  God, 
ivhich  is  your  reasonahh  service,  .  .  .  For  none  of  tis  liv- 
eth  to  himself,  ami  no  man  dieth  to  himself.  For  tvhether 
we  live,  ive  live  tmto  the  Lord ;  err  ivhetlier,  we  die,  tve 
die  unto  the  Lord:  wlhether  we Mve,  therefore,,  or  die, 
we  are  the  Lord's.  Far  to  this  eruL  Christ  both  died, 
and  rose,  and  revived,  that  lie  might  be  Lord  both  of  the 
dead  and  living.  .  .  .  Ye  are  not  your  own  ;  fen'  ye  are 
bought  with  a  price  ;  therefore  glorify  God  in  your  body, 
arid  in  your  .spirit,  ivMch  wre  God's.  .  ;.y.J[eme  a  chosen 
generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar 
people  :  that  ye  shoidd  show  forth  tlie  praises  of  him  who 
luith  called  you  out  of  darkness  into,  his  marvelous  light.''' ' 
If  all  Anglican  Christians  lived  answerahly  to  this  calling, 
they  would  accomplish,  with  the  aid  of  the  Spirit,  the  moral 
t];ansformation  of  England.  . . 

\i-.Tb  enahle  them  more  efiijctually  to  serve  God  and  the 
•^orld,  Christians  have  been  gathered  into  societies  or 
churches,  which  at  the  first  were  composed  of  saints,  and 
labored  for  the  conversion  of  sinners.  The  primitive  churches 
are  thus  addressed  in,  the  letters  of  Paul  :—— 
-i6i^  Paul,,  fi  servant  of  Jestts  Ohrist,  .  .  .  .  to  all  that  be 
aklMome^  beloved  of  God,  called  to  be  saints.'' 
^.s^fJPatd,  called  to  be  an  apostle,  .  .  ;.  unto  the  church  of 
God  which  is  at  Corinth,  to. them  tliat  are  sanctified  in 
Christ  Jesus,  called  to  be  saints." 

\\sS,-,Faul  :.:,:.,  to  the  saints  tchich  are  at  Ephesus,  and  to 
the .^kithful  in  Christ  Jesus." 

''Paul  to  all  the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus  lohich  are  at 
Pliilippi.'[^^-,ij^Sj.   j  Hi)   jj^:.i!;:--i:<;-o--.!.    :•.;  :■_/;'-■.::•• 

"  Pazd  to  the  saints  and  faithful  brethren  tvhich  are  at 
Colosse^"^  \~^   -i  -^^  \^  -i  -riq^  c2  .i  .103  I   ;T  .]  -«'^>i  -^ 
.  ;4^  .h  2iDA  «  .£1  Ji  .easdT  £  ,^-1  .i  -sPsriT  1 

1  Matt,3p-iilil)DJBi4/16;  Rom.  xii.  1  j^Xi-wT-^;  1  €ti(r.asiA2e; 
1  Pet.  ii.  9,E:ieifT  i  T   i  .liiJi  ^"^ 


398        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

'<  Paul  unto  the  church  of  the  Thessalonians.  .  .  .  We 
give  tlianks  to  God  ahcays  for  you  all,  inaking  mention 
of  you  ill  our  ])rayers,  ;  remembering,  tvithout  ceasing, 
your  work  of  faith,  and  labor  of  love,  and  patience  of 
Iwpe  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  sight  of  God  and 
our  Father ;  knowing,  brethren  beloved,  your  election  of 

God We  are  bound  to  give  tha^iks  alway  to  God 

for  you,  brethren  beloved  of  the  Lord,  because  God  hath 
from  the  beginning  chosen  you  to  salvation  through  sanc- 
tification  of  the  Spirit  and  belief  of  the  truth.''' '^ 

These  primitive  churches,  being  thus  composed  generally 
of  ''  saints  and  faithful  brethren,"  labored  in  the  cause  of 
Christ,  and  converted  sinners  to  him.  The  faith  and  piety 
of  the  church  at  Jerusalem  are  recorded  in  the  second 
chapter  of  the  Acts.  The  result  is  thus  stated  :  "  And 
the  Lord  added  to  the  church  daily  rovg  ooj^oizsvovg,  the 
saved." '^  When  the  members  of  this  pious  church  were 
driven  from  their  homes  by  persecution,  "  They  that  were 
scattered  abroad  went  every  ivhere  preaching  the  word  ; 
and  some  of  them  were  men  of  Cijprus  and  Cyrene,  who 
\chen  they  icere  come  to  Antioch  spake  unto  the  Grecians, 
preaching  the  Lord  Jesus.  And  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
loas  ivith  them  ;  and  a  great  number  believed  and  turned 
unto  the  Lord.''  ^ 

The  Romans  manifested  so  much  piety,  that  their  faith 
was  spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world.*  The  Pliilip- 
pians  willingly  shared  in  Paul's  labors  and  sufferings  for 
the  sake  of  the  Gospel.^  And  to  the  church  at  Thessalo- 
nica  Paul  wrote,  "  Ye  ivere  ensamples  to  all  that  believe 
in  Macedonia  and  AcJiaia.  For  from,  you  sounded  out  the 
ivord  of  the  Lord,  not  only  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia, 
but  also  in  every  place  your  faith  toward  God  is  spread 
abroad;  so  tluU  toe  need  7wt  to  speak  any  thing." ^ 
There  are  13,000  Anglican  Churches,  resembling  in  num- 
bers the  churches  of  Thessalonica  and  Philippi       If  all 

^  Rom.   i.   7 ;  1    Cor.   i.   2 ;  Eph.  i.   1  ■    Phil.   i.    1  ;    Col.  i.    2 ; 

1  Thess.  i.  1-4;  2  Thess.  ii.  13,  ^  ^^ts  ii.  4-7  . 

3  Acts  viii.  4;  xi.  20,  21.  "  Rom.  i.  8. 

'  PhU.  i.  7.  6  1  Thess.  i.  7,  8. 


PROGRESS  OF  RELIGION  IN  THE  COUNTRY.       399 

these  were,  like  the  primitive  churches,  composed  of  "saints 
and  faithful  brethren,"  laboring  for  the  glory  of  Christ  and 
the  salvation  of  souls,  how  soon  would  the  whole  nation  be 
leavened  by  the  Gospel  ! 

For  the  improvement  of  the  churches  and  for  the  con- 
version of  the  careless,  Christ  has  further  appointed  pastors 
and  evangelists,  of  whom  we  read  in  the  New  Testament 
as  follows  :   ''He  gave  some  apostles,  and  some  prophets, 
and  sortie  evangelists   (evayyeXiOTag),  and  some  piastors 
and  teachers  {iioi\Livaq  koi  didaoKaXovq),  for  the  perfecting 
of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying 
of  the  body  of  Christ}.  .  .  A  bishop  must  be  blameless,  apt 
to  teach,  not  covetous,  not  a  novice."^.  .  .  A  bishop  must  be 
a  lover  of  good  men,  sober,  just,  holy,  temperate,  holding 
fast  the  faithful  %vord}.  .  .   The  elders  ivhich  are  among 
you  I  exhort,  ivho  am  also  an  elder  and  a  witness  of  the 
sufferings  of  Christ;  feed  the  flock  of  God  ivhich  is  among 
ymi,  taking  the  oversight  thereof,  not  by  constraint,  but 
willingly  ;  not  for  filthy  lucre,  hut  of  a  ready  mind}.  .  . 
Take  heed  to  yourselves,  and  to  all  the  flock,  over  the 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  overseers,  to  feed 
the  church  of  God,  which  he  hath  purchased  with  his 
mon  blood. ^.  .  .  Meditate  upon  these  things,  give  thyself 
wholly  to  them,  that  thy  profiting  nmy  appear  unto  all. 
Take  heed  unto  thyself,  ami  unto  the  doctrine :  continue 
in  them :  for  in  doing  this  thou  shalt  both  save  thyself 
and  them  that  hear  thee:'^     If  the  16,000  pastors  and 
ministers  of  the  Anglican  Churches  were  living  according  to 
these  divine  commands,  England  would  soon  turn  to  Christ. 
But  what  is  the    actual  state  of  the  Establishment  ? 
Myriads  of  its  members  have  nothing  of  Christianity  but 
the  name,   received  in  infancy   by  baptism,   and  retained 
without  one  spontaneous  act  of  their  own  ;   and  millions  do 
nothing  whatever  to  promote   the   cause  of  Christ       Its 
13,000  churches  are  generally  without  evangehstic  activity, 
without  brotherly  fellowship,   without   discipline,   without 
spirituality,  without  faith.      Like  Laodicea,  they  are  luke- 

^  Eph.  iv.  11,  12.       2  1  Tim.  iii.  2,  3,  6.       ""  Tit.  i.  7-9. 

*  1  Pet.  V.  1,  2.        ^  Acts  XX.  28.  ^  1  Tim.  iv.  15,  16 


400        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

warm  ;  like  Sardis,  they  have  a  name  to  live  and  are  dead.^ 
Of  its  16,000  ministers,  about  1568  do  nothing  ;  ^  about 
6^81  limit  their  thoughts  and  labors  to  small  parishes, 
which  contain  from  150  to  300  souls  ;  while  others  in 
cities  and  towns  profess  to  take  charge  of  8000  or  9000 
^ftuls.^  And  of  the  12,923  worldng  pastors  of  churches,  I 
fear,  from  various  concurrent  S3^mptoms,  that  about  10,000 
are  unconverted  men,  who  neither  preach  nor  know  the 
Gospel. 

When  churches  become  .cojTupt  and  inert,  and  when 
their  pastors  become  worldly,  mercenary,  and  proud,  it  is 
impossible  that  unbelievers  should  renounce  their  skepticismj 
or  that  religion  should  make  progress  in  society.  What- 
ever, therefore,  corrupts  the  churches  of  a  nation,  is  fatal 
to  the  nation  itself.  But  the  Anglican  churches  and  pas- 
tors are  corrupted;  and  the  union  being  one  principal 
cause  of  tlieir  corruption,  the  union  is  at  this  time  one 
great  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  rehgion  in  the  country. 

The  union  checks  the  progress  of  religion  in  the  country 
by  placing  the  Anglican  Churches  under  the  ecclesiastical 
government  of  worldly  politicians  assembled  in  Parliament, 
including  Etonian  Catholics  and  Unitarians,  who  control 
them  in  spiritual  things,  determine  the  mode  in  which 
their  pastors  are  to  be  chosen,  perpetuate  their  false  doc- 
trine, and  prevent  the  exercise  of  discipline.  How  can  the 
blessing  of  God  descend  upon  this  union  of  the  churches  of 
Christ  with  strangers  to  him  ?  How  can  churches  so  gov- 
erned ever  bring  the  nation  to  faith  and  godliness  liBi&imm 

The  union  checks  the  progress  of  rehgion  in  the  ^hatiixy^ 
by  giving  uiideiined  and  arbitrary  power  over  the  churches 
to  prelates,  who,  being  the  nominees  of  politicians,  must  be 
often  worldly  as  their  patrons.  These  worldly  prelates 
exercise  incalculable  influence  upon  the  churches  by  their 
example,  by  their  chaplains  and  archdeacons,  by  their  ex- 
tended patronage,  by  their  discretionary  power  in  ordina- 
tion, by  their  tyrannical  right  of  license,  and  by  their 
visitation  charges  ;  all  which  mfluence  mcreases  the  world- 
hness  and  the  deadness  of  the  Estabhshment.  ,  .,.  .   . 

^  Rev.  ill         '^iHorsman,  p.  20,  ^  Horsman,  pp.  20,  21. 


PROGRESS  OF  RELIGION  IN  THE  COUNTRY.       401 

The  union  checks  the  progress  of  religion  in  the  country 
by  giving  to  worldly  patrons  the  right  of  naming  the  pas- 
tors of  the  churches.  Continually  may  the  rich  and  the  great,- 
of  whom  our  Lord  has  said  that  it  is  easier  for  a  camel  to 
go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  them  to  enter  the 
kingdom,  of  heaven,^  pour  over  the  parishes  of  the  land  a 
majority  of  worldly  presentees  like  themselves.  In  addition 
to  this,  they  hold  fast  under  their  i^^orldly  influence  all  the 
expectants  of  preferment,  who  can  look  for  income  and 
prosperity  from  nothing  but  their  favor  ;  and  thus  they 
can  efiectually  defeat  all  efforts  to  raise  the  churches  to 
more  spirituality,  faith,  and  love. 

i  The  union  further  checks  the  progress  of  religion  in  the 
country  by  investmg  these  worldly  nominees  of  worldly  patrons 
with  exclusive  spiritual  jurisdiction,  under  the  bishops,  in 
their  respective  parishes.  I  fear  that  about  10,000  out 
of  the  12,900  pastors  of  the  Establishment,  manifest,  by 
their  opposition  to  evangelical  doctrine  and  their  dislike  of 
evangelical  societies,  by  their  want  of  earnestness  in  their 
ministry,  and.  their  hatred  of  pious  and  peaceable  dissenters, 
that  they  are  unconverted  men.  Yet  to  these  the  union 
gives  the  right  of  excluding  from  their  parishes  all  Anglican 
ministers  who  are  more  enlightened  and  more  earnest  than 
themselves.  The  parishioners  have  no  voice  in  the  matter. 
3For,  ^  ^' There  is  no  general  principle  of  ecclesiastical  law 
more  firmly  established  than  this,  that  it  is  not  competent 
to  any  clergyman  to  officiate  in  any  church  or  chapel  within 
the  limits  of  a  parish  without  consent  of  the  incumbent."  ^ 
The  whole  parish  may  desire  to  hear  the  Gospel  from  the 
lips  of  a  stranger.  His  preaching  would,  perhaps,  revivify 
the  church,  they  have  a  natural  right  to  hear  him,  but  the 
union  has  given  the  negligent,  idle,  and  ungodly  pastor,  the 
right  of  declaring  that  they  shall  hear  no  one  but  himself. 

It  is  impossible  that  the  Establishment,  under  the  con- 
trol of  worldly  politicians,  led  by  worldly  prelates,  and 
taught  by  worldly  pastors,  chosen  by  worldly  patrons,  can 
possibly  extend,  the  empire  of  spiritual  religion  through  the 

^  ....ji  .j^tt.  ^  3-  4;     See  also  1  Cor.  i.  26  j   James  ii.  5-7. 
londyBuruyS^^ i;q)..  3jD6...  ;  .r:  .  .  /^  ii  jjiQ'i-g  v/oii  oi  awoda  bar. 


402        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

Irand.  How  can  Avorldly  prelates  and  pastors  make  men 
better  than  themselves  ?  Themselves  unconverted,  they 
must  leave  their  countrymen  unconverted  too.  And  so 
long  as  worldly  politicians  and  worldly  patrons  have  the 
absolute  nomination  of  the  pastors  of  the  Establishment, 
so  long  the  Establishment  must  be  worldly  and  the  nation 
irreligious. 

The  union  further  checks  the  progress  of  religion  in  the 
country  by  leading  to  a  common  belief  that  Anglican  pas- 
tors are  mercenary.  Nothing  is  more  fatal  to  the  influence 
of  pastors  than  this  belief  concerning  them,  except,  indeed, 
it  be  to  be  guilty  of  the  sin  laid  to  their  charge.  But  to 
this  the  union  tempts  many  pastors.  When  peerages  and 
palaces,  deaneries  and  prebendal  stalls,  masterships  and  fel- 
lowships, rich  livings  and  pleasant  mansions,  glitter  before 
the  e3^es  of  young  men  as  rewards  of  clerical  talent,  how 
can  thoy  fail  to  be  attracted  by  them  ?  Many  of  the  clev- 
erer sort,  and  of  those  connected  with  patrons,  certainly 
become  pastors,  not  from  delight  in  the  duties,  but  through 
desire  for  the  gains.  It  is  no  less  certain,  that  the  world, 
in  which  the  love  of  money  is  a  prevailing  passion,  believes 
this  to  be  more  generally  true  than  it  is  in  fact.  How  can 
they  see  men,  who  are  remarkable  neither  for  piety  nor  pas- 
toral diligence,  but  men  of  good  abilities,  or  with  great 
connections,  climbing  to  the  possession  of  ecclesiastical 
power  and  wealth,  without  believing  that  they  chose  the 
profession  for  the  sake  of  those  glittering  rewards  ?  And 
if  this  belief  is  wide-spread  among  the  people,  as  it  must 
be,  what  can  more  effectually  neutralize  the  religious  influ- 
ence of  the  clergy,  or  more  generally  expose  rehgion  itself 
to  popular  contempt  ?  Still  more,  how  can  they  see  livings, 
that  is,  the  pastor's  income  and  the  pastor's  right,  bought 
and  sold  with  all  the  bargaining  which  would  attend  the 
sale  of  a  cargo  of  sugar  or  of  cotton,  without  feeling  that 
their  pastors  are  not  heaven-sent,  nor  heirs  of  apostolic 
authorit)'^  ? 

The  nomenclature  of  ''  the  church"  is  further  calculated 
to  establish  this  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the  multitude, 
and  shows  to  how  great  a  degree  the  idea  of  personal  honor 


TROGRESS  OF  RELIGION  IN  THE  COUNTRY.       403 

and  advantage  is  connected  with  the  clerical  profession. 
Seldom  are  the  clergy  of  the  Estabhshment  called  pastors, 
ministers,  or  presbyters,  the  names  by  which  the  New  Tes- 
tament designates  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel ;  but  they 
are  called  as  follows  : — 

Prelates,  iwcBlati,  advanced  before  others. 

Dignitaries,  those  who  have  attained  to  dignity. 

Rectors,  rectores,  rulers. 

Incumbents,  from  incurtibens,  lying  upon  any  thing,  an 
incumbent  load  which  the  Church  must  support. 

Parsons,  perso7ice,  the  chief  persons  of  the  parish. 

And  their  office,  instead  of  being  called  the  pastoral 
charge,  or  episcopate  (entoKonr)),  as  it  is  in  Scripture 
(1  Tim.  iii.  2),  is  termed — 

A  Living,  or  that  which  will  enable  the  incumbent  to 
live  ; 

A  Benefice,  be?iejicium,  a  thmg  for  his  advantage  ; 

And  a  Preferment,  a  thing  to  advance  him  in  the  world. 

How  could  these  names  have  superseded  the  scriptural 
names,  unless  the  ideas  which  they  convey  had  first  super- 
seded the  true  ideas  of  the  ministry  of  the  word,  both 
among  clergy  and  people  ?  And  now  they  bear  their  fruit, 
and  the  professed  ministers  of  Christ  are  believed  to  seek 
honor,  ease,  and  wealth,  just  as  the  lawyer,  the  merchant, 
or  the  tradesman. 

There  are  some,  indeed,  who  are,  beyond  suspicion, 
earnest  and  painstaking  men,  who  are  destined  to  fill  no 
stalls  and  to  wear  no  miters,  upon  whose  teaching  the 
blessing  of  the  Spirit  rests.  They  are  the  strength  of  the 
Establishment ;  they  give  a  salutary  impulse  to  the  piety 
of  the  nation  ;  they  bring  a  blessing  on  the  land.  And 
these  are  hindered  and  crippled  by  the  union.  Frowned  on 
by  unevangelical  bishops,  by  the  potent  magnates  of  their 
neighborhood,  and  by  the  worldly  incumbents,  who  feel 
condemned  by  their  zeal,  they  must  admit  all  sorts  of 
persons  to  the  sacrament,  tliey  can  exercise  no  discipline 
within  their  churches,  they  must  not  preach  Christ  beyond 
the  narrow  bounds  of  their  own  parishes  ;  and  while  con- 
demned to  associate  as  brethren  at  visitations  and  confirm- 


404        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS.  ;   . 

ations,  &>c.,  &c.,  with  unconverted  men,  who  disUke  them 
and  their  principles,  they  are  obUged  to  refuse  their  pulpits 
to  the  most  fervent  evangelists  among  their  brethren  of 
free,  churches  ;  dare  not  associate  with  them  freely,  or  gen- 
erously own  them,  and  thus  share  inJihO:  guilt  a^d  iBods^hiefL 
of  the  Anglican  schism^ic^aJ  j}03ff£vbii  ;"5:^a"^^-\«'  ,3oi.elo7T! 

The  union  further  hinders  the  progress  of  religion  in  the 
country  by  checking  the  activity  of  the  Anglican  Churches. 
These  churches  are-  destitute  of  activity,  of  discipline,  and 
of  brotherly  fellowship.  Their  members  generally  do  little 
to  promote  the  salvation  of  souls  ;  they  are  quietly  associ- 
ated in  church-membership  with  those  who  make  no  pro- 
fession of  godliness,  and  they  are  strangers  to  each  other. 
The  union  has  done  all  this,  because  it  has  given  them. 
WOi'ldly  pastors  to  be  their  rulers  and  incumbents  ;  it  has 
taken  the  right  of  discipline  out  of  their  hands  ;  it  has 
given  to  nearly  iall  parishioners,  not  being  "  saints  and  fai.th- 
fUl  brethren"  of  free  churches,  the  right  of  admissioft\  to 
(Christ's  ordinances,  and  has  bound  up,  in  one  frozen  mass, 
those  who  have  no  agreement  in  doctrine,  no  mutual  esteem, 
no  common  objects,  and  no  church-meetings.  This  indis-. 
crimmate  admission  to  the  sacraments  is  especially  misT: 
chievous.  Every  ungodly  parishioner  may  bring  his  chil(i 
to  be  made  "  a  member  of  Christ,  a  child  of  God,  and  ai¥ 
inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  by  baptism.  All  the 
devotees  of  money  and  of  pleasure,  if  confirmed,  may  come 
of;  right,  fresh  from  the  theater  and  the  ball-room,  from, 
Jklelton  and  Newmarket,  to  the  table  of  the  Lord,  whiph 
ijft  one  place  becomes  the  rendezvous  of  fashion,  in,  another 
I'emains  neglected  aud  despised,  in  all  has  lost  its  distinct- 
ijVie  character  as  a  communion  of  sanits. 
rr  From  the  apostolic  churches  the  word  of  the  Lord  sounded 
forth  ;  and  they  shone  among  their  neighbors  as  lights. 
Their  faith  was. spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world,  and 
walking,  i^i.tlie  ^fear  of  the  Lord  and ,  the  comfort  of  the. 
Holy  Ghost,  they  were  multiplied.^  But  what  number  of 
Anglican  Churches  out  of  the  13,000  thus  bless  their 
neighborhoods,  and  spread  around  them  the  knowledge  of 

^  1  Tbess.  i.  2,  3,  6,  8j  Phil.ii.  .15,,16;,.R.pm,i.  8/,  Acts  jx, JJLi* 


TROGRESS  OF  RELIGION  IN  THE  COUNTRY.        405 

Christ  ?  When  the  church  of  Jerusalem  was  threatened 
by  the  powerful  and  abhorred  by  the  bigot,  but  strong  in 
faith,  confessed  the  lordship  of  Christ,  consented  to  great 
sacrifices  for  his  sake,  met  often  in  his  name,  and  foved 
each  other  as  brethren,  then  ^^  the  Lord  added  to  the 
Church  daily  rovg  Gco^oiievovg,  the  saved  :"i  and  to  such 
a  church  he  would  add  them  again.  But  how  can  these 
Anglican  Churches,  half  church,  half  world,  lying  open  to 
all  comers,  except  the  saints  in  dissenting  churches,  a  mis- 
cellaneous aggi-egate  of  all  characters,  principles,  and  opin- 
ions, act  upon  the  conscience  or  the  heart  of  any  worldly 
man  ?  The  unbeliever  scorns  the  impure  mixture,  and 
the  mass  of  the  people  are  increasingly  alienated  from  them 
and  from  their  pastors. 

-  The  -union  further  checks  the  progress  of  religion  in  the 
country  by  perpetuating  schism.  Preventing  all  revision 
of  the  canons,  it  holds  down  the  bishops,  ^ecclesiastical 
judges,  and  clergy,  to  the  corrupt  and  schismatical  dogma 
that  dissenters  are  schismatics.  Although  they  alone  have 
awakened  many  a  country  village  from  a  deathlike  toi-por, 
and  through  them  two  or  three  millions  of  our  countrymen 
in  cities  and  manufacturing  districts,  who  would  have  been 
without  instruction  ready  like  the  mob  of  Paris  to  preach 
anarchy  from  the  smoking  and  sanguinary  summits  of  their 
barricades,  are  now  gathered  info  loyal,  orderly,  and  ex- 
emplary churches  of  Christ,  the  union  has  taught  Anglicans 
to  regard  their  labors  as  a  misfortune,  to  esteem  their  exist- 
ence a  social  blot,  and  to  exclude  them  from  their  pulpits, 
their  altars,  and  their  friendship.  By  this  contempt  and 
suspicion  even  patient  men  are  roused  to  indignation,  and 
men  of  sterner  mold  indulge  in  those  bitter  vituperations 
of  the  Establishment  and  its  pastors,  of  which  it  is  only  an 
imperfect  palliation  to  say,  that  they  were  cruelly  provoked. 
The  violence  of  both  parties  hinders  the  progress  of  the 
Gospel.  If  these  be  the  fruits  of  faith  in  Christ  it  seems 
better  to  many  not  to  believe.  Since  each  party  proscribes 
the  other  as  an  enemy,  and  the  world  knows  not  which  to 
believe,  why  should  it  not  treat  them  both  as  enemies  to 
^mJiittHwriJ 'bn4^:    »'^5^«^:!^^!'i^^  Actsii.  47. 


406        LNFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

its  peace  ?  Since  tliey  can  not  convince  each  other  of  the 
truth  of  their  doctrines,  how  should  they  convince  the  rest 
of  mankind  ?  As  each  declares  the  other  to  be  wrong,  the 
•world  may  think  both  wrong.  It  can  not  understand 
their  reasonings,  but  it  can  appreciate  their  passions  ;  their 
conclusions  may  be  obscure,  but  their  anathemas  are  very 
plain.  The  result  is,  that  many  believe  nothing  to  be  at 
the  bottom  of  this  strife  between  the  Anglicans  and  their 
rivals  but  selfishness,  cupidity,  and  pride.  For  this  con- 
clusion, and  the  consequent  enmity  to  religion  which  grows 
up  in  the  nation,  the  union  and  its  adherents  are  mainly 
responsible.  "  Woe  to  the  world  because  of  offenses  !  For 
it  must  needs  he  that  offenses  come  ;  hut  tvoe  to  tlwut  inan 
by  ichom  the  offense  cometh  !'' 

Out  of  these  schisms  grow  political  strifes.  Since  the 
Anglican,  eager  to  preserve  his  privileges,  is  a  Tory,  and 
the  dissenter,  anxious  to  obtain  his  rights,  is  a  Whig,  both 
are  embittered  by  the  addition  of  political  to  theological 
debate.  On  either  side  the  disciples  of  Christ  are  leagued 
with  those  who  openly  dishonor  him,  while  they  proscribe 
his  friends  in  the  opposite  political  party.  The  political 
heat  and  party  spirit  of  Christians  hide  out  from  the  world's 
view  their  faith  and  zeal ;  religion  seems  to  have  vanished 
from  the  churches,  and  the  nation  despises  evangelical 
religion  through  the  faults  of  its  supporters. 

Those  who  uphold  this  corrupt  and  paralyzing  system, 
beneath  which  world liness  must  luxuriate  and  spirituality 
must  die,  by  which  the  churches  are  corrupted  and  the 
whole  nation  injured,  are  answerable  for  the  consequences. 

Section  X. — Effects  of  the  Union  uioon  the  Government. 

It  has  been  shown  in  the  preceding  pages  that  the  union 
is  detrimental  to  Anglican  pastors  and  churches,  to  dissent- 
ers, and  to  the  nation  at  large.  During  its  continuance  it 
is  vain  to  hope  that  Christians  will  be  united,  that  churches 
will  be  pure,  or  that  religion  will  make  much  progress  in 
society.  I  now  add,  that  it  is  a  constant  source  of  embar- 
rassment to  the   government.       Anglican   and  dissenting 


UrON  THE  GOVERNMENT.  407 

pastors,  who  ought  to  be  raised  above  all  party  poUtics,  "  to 
watch  for  souls  as  those  who  must  give  account,"  become, 
almost  necessarily,  through  the  union,  eager  political  parti- 
sans. The  clergy  have  privileges  to  maintain,  which  are 
menaced  by  numerous  and  watchful  antagonists  ;  and  the 
place  where  the  battles  for  these  privileges  must  be  fought 
is  Parliament.  Their  salaries,  their  honors,  their  influence 
as  the  established  teachers  of  the  nation,  -are  all  at  stake  ; 
but  if  they  can  maintain  at  the  helm  of  affairs  a  party 
which  identifies  its  interest  with  theirs,  they  are  safe.  As 
so  vital  a  matter  is  not  to  be  neglected,  they  must  labor 
resolutely  to  keep  their  party  in  power.  Scarcely  less  im- 
portant is  it  to  secure  the  return  of  members  known  for 
devotion  to  their  cause.  There  is  many  a  Goliath  armed 
against  them  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  they  must 
send  as  many  Davids  as  they  can  to  meet  them  in  the  field. 
Various  bills,  also,  calculated  either  to  strengthen  or  to 
diminish  their  influence,  some  recognizing  the  principle  of 
an  Establishment,  others  hostile  16  it,  some  discouraging 
their  rivals,  and  others  threatening  their  own  ruin,  demand 
their  best  attention.  Each  must  canvass,  on  these  points, 
the  vote  of  his  representative  ;  each  obtain  signatures  for 
the  petitions  to  the  legislature  which  each  measure  requires. 
Besides  these  temptations  to  political  eagerness,  Anglican 
pastors  naturally  desire  to  serve  their  patrons,  sometimes 
out  of  gratitude  for  past  favors,  sometimes  in  hope  of  favors 
yet  to  come.  To  canvass  zealously  for  a  powerful  dispenser 
of  church  preferment  is  the  way  to  a  comfortable  parsonage 
and  to  a  good  income.  Exactly  similar  temptations  beset 
the  pastors  of  free  churches.  To  be  placed  on  a  legal 
equality  with  the  established  sect,  to  escape  the  imposition 
of  church-rates,  to  see  the  national  ecclesiastical  property 
saved  from  its  mischievous  appropriation  to  a  sect  and  em- 
ployed usefully  for  all,  to  remove  great  hindrances  to  the 
purity  of  the  Christian  churches  and  to  the  triumph  of  the 
Gospel  in  the  country,  are  objects  for  which  they  also 
think  that  they  must  carry  their  party  to  power,  secure  the 
return  of  representatives  pledged  to  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State,  and  labor  for  the  success  or  defeat  of  measures 


40S        INFLUKN-JE  OF  THE  UxNUON  UPON  THINGS. 

whiicli  are  favorable  or  hostile  to  their  great  principle.  This 
political  activity  of  the  two  bodies  of  pastors  in  opposite 
directions  brings  them  into  worldly  associations,  impairs 
their  efficiency  as  Christian  teachers,  leads  to  irritating 
imputations  on  both  sides,  exasperates  their  enmity  against 
each  other,  and  increases  the  schism  which  rends  the 
chm-ches  of  Christ.  Yet,  mischievous  as  it  is,  they  almost 
necessarily  regard  it  as  Christian  zeal.  Anglicans  think 
that  they  must  fight  for  a  principle  with  which,  in  their 
judgment,  the  prosperity,  maintenance,  and  extension  of 
the  church  of  Christ,  are  so  inseparably  blended.  Non- 
coufonnists  are  persuaded  that  they  must  eject  it  from  our 
constitution,  as  incompatible  with  the  rights  of  Christ,  with 
the  fidelity  of  the  churehes,  or  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
nation.  As  long  as  the  union  lasts  the  clergy  must  and 
will  be  politicians  in  two  hostile  camps.-''' '-'';;•'-'  '^-^iii  ^-^  >'ii-J^ 
Their  respective  objects  determine  thmi*  political'  etyn* 
nectioHS.  Two  great  parties  in  this  country  have  long 
contended  with  each  other  for  the  possession  of  power.  The 
principle  inscribed  upon  the  banner  of  the  Tories  is,  "  Privi- 
lege against  innovation."  They  appeal  to  the  historical 
traditions  of  the  country  ;  they  point  with  pride  to  its  pres- 
ent prosperity  and  power  ;  th6y  warn  the  nation  against 
the  empiricism,  which  may  endanger  the  glorious  fabric  of 
the  constitution  ;  they  are  for  "  leaving  w^ell  alone."  The 
spirit  of  the  Whig  creed,  on  the  contrary,  is  "  Preservation 
by  progress."  Against  change  for  the  sake  of  change  they 
protest ;  but  as  they  will  not  adopt  a  bad  thing  because  it 
is  new,  so  neither  will  they  retain  a  bad  thing  because  it 
is  old.  As  a  nation  grows  in  intelligence  and  in  morahty, 
it  ought  to  adapt  its  institutions  to  its  circumstances  ;  and 
fearlessly  to  destroy  whatever  is  unjust  and  mischievous  is 
the  way  to  preserve  what  is  right  and  useful.  These  being 
the  opposite  principles  of  the  two  parties,  all  the  privileged 
classes  are  naturally  linked  with  the  Tories,  who  are  for 
upholding  privilege,  and  all  the  unprivileged  classes  are  for 
the  Whigs,  who  advocate  progress.  For  these  reasons  the 
ministers  of  Christ,  who  ought  to  be  united  as  brethren, 
Imowing  no  political  party,  are  marshaled  in  two  hostile 


UPON  THE  GOVERNMENT.  409 

armies  :  the  Anglicans  are  with  the  Tories  against  the 
Whigs,  the  dissenters  M'ith  the  Whigs  against  the  Tories. 

To  both  poHtical  parties  these  clerical  politics  appear  to 
me  disastrous.  As  advocates  of  progress,  the  Whigs,  when 
in  power,  arm  against  themselves  the  clergy  who  are  the 
advocates  of  privilege.  No  moderation  of  views,  no  caution 
in  their  measures,  no  suavity  of  manner,  no  eminence  of 
virtue,  can  save  Whig  statesmen  from  having  the  clergy 
for  their  foes.  They  are  for  progress  against  privilege  ; 
and  that  alone  is  cause  enough  to  make  every  privileged 
class  eager  for  their  downfall.  But  16,000  clergymen 
spread  over  the  whole  country,  and  animated  with  inextin- 
guishable jealousy  and  dislike,  are  formidable  opponents. 
It  is  true  that  their  fundamental  principle  secures  to  the 
Whigs  the  adherence  of  the  unprivileged  classes  ;  and, 
therefore,  dissenters,  Roman  Catholics,  and  reformers  of 
every  grade,  will  aid  them  rather  than  their  rivals.  But 
the  necessities  of  the  government,  so  long  as  the  union  of 
the  Church  and  State  subsists,  by  compelling  ministers  to 
make  concessions  to  their  adversaries,  excites  the  anger  of 
their  adherents.  To  avoid  pushing  their  antagonists  to 
extremities,  the  Whigs  shrink  from  the  appHcation  of  their 
own  principles,  maintain  abuses  which  are  too  strong  to  be 
attacked,  and  are  compelled  to  justify  their  maintenance  by 
insufficient  reasons.  The  consequence  has  been,  and  A\dll 
be  again,  that  although  the  cabinet  is  formed  of  able  and 
of  honest  men,  they  ahenate  their  supporters,  who  can  not, 
perhaps,  appreciate  the  difficulties  of  their  position.  No 
amount  of  talent,  no  administrative  skill,  no  brilliancy  in 
debate,  no  amount  of  services  to  the  country,  can  perpetuate 
their  popularity.  Too  liberal  for  the  aristocracy,  and  too 
conservative  for  the  unprivileged  mass,  they  are  unable  to 
conciliate  tlieir  enemies  or  to  retain  their  friends.  Suc- 
cessive votes  slip  away  from  their  majorities,  their  friends 
out-of-doors  grow  cold  and  sullen,  and  the  reins  of  power 
drop  from  their  hands. 

Yet  no  better  prospect  awaits  the  Tories  on  their  acces- 
sion to  office.  Loud  and  long  are  the  rejoicings  of  the 
clergy  at   that   event,   and   the  aristocracy  will  gallantly 

S 


410        INFLUENCE  OF  XHE  UxXION  UPON  THINGS. 

support  them  ;  but  there  are  other  parties  leagued  against 
them,  which,  despised  hitherto,  are  annually  becoming 
more  formidable.  As  the  Whigs  become  conservative,  so 
the  Tories  become  liberal  in  office.  Although  their  de- 
pendence on  the  aristocratic  classes  secures  their  fidelity  to 
their  maxim  of  "  privilege  against  innovation,"  yet,  like 
the  Whigs,  they  can  not  but  make  some  concessions  to  their 
opponents.  But  these  can  never  conciliate  dissenters, 
Roman  Catholics,  and  reformers.  The  instincts  of  the 
privileged  and  the  unprivileged  are  essentially  antagonistic. 
Cerberus  will  grow  hungry  again  after  his  sop  ;  and  still 
the  array  of  four-fifths  of  the  lower  classes  who  are  exclud- 
ed from  the  elective  franchise,  the  Roman  Catholics,  who 
claim  civil  and  religious  equality  with  the  rest  of  their 
fellow-subjects,  dissenters,  who  think  that  the  welfare  of 
the  nation  is  bound  up  with  the  freedom  of  the  churches, 
and  the  most  enlightened  portion  of  the  middle  classes,  who 
see  that  progress  is  the  only  condition  of  national  safety, 
all  supporting  the  Whig  opposition,  defeat  their  measures 
and  insult  their  incapacity.  Meanwhile,  their  own  friends, 
who  can  not  endure  their  concessions  to  either  dissenters, 
Roman  Catholics,  or  Whigs,  are  alienated  and  embittered. 
It  becomes  evident  that  they  have  lost  the  confidence  of 
the  country,  and  in  their  turn  they  are  hurled  from  their 
seats. 

Both  parties  have  good  reason  to  wish  the  union  at  an 
end  ;  but  of  the  two  the  Tories  suffer  from  it  the  most. 
Political  parties  are  already  nearly  equal,  and,  as  the  popu- 
lar element  in  our  constitution  is  continually  growing,  and 
with  it  the  strength  of  the  popular  party  in  Parliament, 
the  active  opposition  of  dissenters  to  a  Tory  administration 
must  be  a  source  of  increasing  embarrassment.  Already 
they  have  been  much  perplexed  by  the  combination  of  the 
unprivileged  classes  against  them,  and  the  time  does  not 
seem  far  off'  when  it  will  render  them  incapable  of  caxrying" 
on  the  government  at  all. 

If  it  appears  doubtful  to  any  one  that  the  dissolution  of 
the  union  would  lessen  the  political  activity  of  the  two 
classes  of  pastors,  let  him  only  consider  the  circumstances, 


UPON  THE  GOVERNMENT.  411 

and  the  doubt  must  vanish.  Since  AngHcan  pastors  are 
now  political,  because  they  have  to  contend  in  Parliament 
for  the  prerogatives,  honors,  and  emoluments  of  their 
church  ;  and  since  dissenters  are  now  political,  because 
they  are  unjustly  depressed,  and  the  progress  of  religion  in 
the  country  is  impeded  by  the  existence  of  the  union,  both 
classes  must  cease  to  be  political,  when,  the  union  being 
dissolved,  they  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  legislature, 
and  nothing  to  hope  for.  That  great  reform  being  effected, 
why  should  they  any  longer  engage  in  the  war  of  politics  ? 
When  no  political  party  can  either  serve  or  injure  them, 
when  they  have  no  enactments  to  promote  or  frustrate,  no 
champions  to  elect,  and  no  enemies  to  humble,  their  politi- 
cal activity  would  be  worse  than  ridiculous.  Now  religion 
seems  to  demand  and  to  consecrate  their  entrance  into 
political  contention ;  but  then  it  would  seem  to  their 
churches  and  to  the  nation  an  obtrusive  meddling,  an  un- 
disguised worldliness,  and  it  would  not  be  endured.  Then 
the  better  part  of  the  pastors  would  have  no  taste  for  politi- 
cal bustle,  and  the  rest  would  be  forbidden  to  indulge  it. 
Tories  and  Whigs  would  alike  rejoice  in  their  deliverance 
from  a  wavering  friendship  and  a  resolved  enmity  ;  and 
the  pastors  of  churches,  rescued  from  a  powerful  tempta- 
tion, would  leave  party  questions  to  those  more  qualified  to 
discuss  them,  reserving  to  themselves  nothing  but  the 
sacred  right  to  uphold  all  good  government,  by  inculcating 
in  their  ministry  respect  for  the  laws,  affectionate  loyalty 
to  their  sovereign,  and  patriotic  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  their 
country. 

Against  a  measure  so  useful  to  all  classes,  it  is  often 
argued  that  the  resumption  of  church  property  by  the  State 
would  be  spoliation.  That  property  belongs,  it  is  said,  to 
the  Church  of  England,  and  the  sacrilegious  hands  which 
would  rob  her  of  it  might  with  equal  justice  confiscate  the 
properties  of  the  landlords,  or  sell  the  manufactories  of 
Lancashire  and  Yorkshire,  for  purposes  of  State.  Big 
words,  but  with  little  in  them.  Who  gave  the  church 
property  to  the  clergy,  and  for  what  ends  was  it  given  ? 
It  was  the  legislature  which  justly  took  it  from  the  Roman 


412        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

priests,  because  their  ministry  was  judged  noxious  to  tlie 
country,  and  which  gave  it  to  the  Protestant  clergy  for  the 
good  of. the  whole  community.  As  justly  might  they  take 
it  from  the  Episcopal  clergy,  existing  interests  being  re- 
spected, and  give  it  to  Presbyterian  or  Independent  minis- 
ters if  they  judged  it  beneficial  to  the  country.  It  was 
given  by  the  nation  to  its  pastors  for  its  own  use,  and  the 
nation  must  still  be  judge  how  far  its  present  application 
answers  that  end.  As  it  was  justly  taken  from  the  Catho- 
lic trustees  when  their  tenure  of  it  was  proved  to  be  mis- 
chievous, so  may  it  justly  be  taken  from  the  Protestant 
trustees  when  their  tenure  is  likewise  proved  to  be  mis- 
chievous. Church  property  exists  by  act  of  Parliament 
for  the  good  of  the  nation,  and  Parliament  must  be  the 
supreme  judge  whether  it  is  for  the  good  of  the  nation  that 
it  should  cease  to  exist.  Anglicans  maintain  that  the 
interests  of  religion  depend  on  its  remaining  in  their  hands ; 
dissenters,  with  much  more  reason,  contend  that  religion 
would  flourish  more  if  it  were  applied  to  other  purposes. 
Both  appeal  to  Parliament,  and  Parliament  alone  must 
judge.  Who,  in  fact,  will  suffer  if  this  property  is  resumed 
by  the  State  ?  Not  the  people,  for  they  will  be  better 
taught  without  it ;  not  the  patrons,  for  they  ought  to  re- 
ceive a  compensation  for  the  loss  of  their  advowsons  ;  not 
the  pastors,  for  they  ought  to  enjoy  the  income  till  their 
deaths  ;  not  their  successors,  for  they  do  not  exist.  Ail 
classes  would  be  benefited,  and  none  would  suffer,  if  church 
property,  being  resumed  by  the  State,  were  employed  for 
schools,  village  libraries,  hospitals,  or  other  purposes,  any 
of  which  would  serve  the  interests  of  all. 

But  if  the  measure  be  admitted  to  be  necessary,  some 
will  plead  for  delay.  "  Not  now,  at  least,"  they  will  say, 
"  attempt  the  overthrow  of  the  most  venerable  part  of  our 
majestic  constitution.  Not  now,  when  every  European 
government  is  tossed  about  by  the  prodigious  heavings  of 
the  people,  like  a  brig  in  the  roused  Pacific ;  when  England 
is  almost  the  only  country  whose  institutions  have  manifest- 
ed stability,  and  to  which  all  the  wise  and  the  good  throughout 
Europe  look  as  the  only  breakwater  which  may  stay  the 


UPOiN  THE  GOVERNMENT.  413 

flood  of  wild  and  lawless  revolution  which  is  bursting  upon 
the  world.  Why  at  this  moment  let  loose  all  the  revolu- 
tionary cravings  of  the  kingdom  to  disturb  our  tranquillity, 
if  not  to  endanger  our  existence  ?"  Vain  fears  I  The 
safety  of  the  constitution  demands  its  immediate  removal. 
The  union  disfigures  our  constitution,  disturbs  our  social 
peace,  revolts  our  sense  of  justice,  is  condemned  by  religion, 
and  irritates  millions  against  the  social  system  under  which 
they  live.  Rescue  them  from  all  desire  of  change,  by 
granting  their  righteous  claims.  Make  the  millions  of 
dissenters  conservatives,  by  giving  them  these  rights  to 
preserve.  Remove  the  union,  and  our  social  fabric  will 
stand.  Maintain  it,  and  take  care  that  it  does  not  pull 
down  the  rest.  Precisely  because  the  nations  are  now 
rest-less,  and  are  subjecting  all  institutions  to  a  bold  and 
irreverent  criticism,  should  all  that  will  not  endure  such 
criticism  be  abandoned.  What  can  more  exasperate  the 
discontented  than  to  see  that  the  most  just,  rational,  and 
religious  complaints  fare  as  ill  with  our  legislature  as  those 
which  are  ignorant  or  unprincipled  ?  What  can  so 
quicken  the  love  of  extensive  change  in  the  people  as  to  let 
them  see  that  their  rulers  will  not  sacrifice  even  an  abuse  ? 
Thoughtful,  just,  and  religious  lorogress  is  the  only  con- 
dition of  our  safety.  If  we  wish  to  see  our  institutions 
secure  against  revolution,  we  must  adapt  them  to  the  intel- 
ligence and  the  conscience  of  the  nation.  No  cherished 
injustice,  no  detected  absurdity,  must  remain  to  enfeeble 
them.  And  if  the  union  is  ever  to  be  dissolved,  which  is 
most  for  the  welfare  of  the  country,  that  it  should  be  dis- 
solved by  just  and  prudent  men,  with  regard  to  existing 
rights,  and  with  foresight  of  the  inconvenience  which  so 
great  a  change  must  ever  occasion  in  a  nation  ;  or  with 
impetuosity,  and  perhaps  injustice,  by  those  who  would 
exult  in  it  as  a  triumph  over  religion  itself?  This  part 
of  the  alternative  is  not  so  impossible  as  some  may  think. 
A  separation  of  the  Church  from  the  State  is  the  distinct 
tendency  of  the  foremost  nations  of  Europe,  which  must, 
sooner  or  later,  govern  the  course  of  the  rest.  In  the  year 
1795  the  Convention  of  the  French  republic  introduced 


414        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

into  its  constitution  the  following  article  :  ''No  one  shall 
be  hindered  from  exercising,  in  conformity  with  the  laws, 
the  religion  {culte)  which  he  has  chosen.  No  one  shall  be 
forced  to  contribute  to  the  maintenance  of  any  religion. 
The  repubUc  salaries  none."  ^  If  a  similar  article  is  not 
inserted  in  the  French  constitution  of  1848,  this  is  attrib- 
utable more  to  a  temporary  fear  of  increasing  the  difficulties 
of  the  republic  than  to  any  value  for  the  union  itself  M. 
de  La  Mennais  has  already  proposed  that  the  following 
terms  should  be  inserted  in  the  constitution  :  "  Each  person 
professes  his  religion  with  equal  liberty.  All  religions  are 
independent  of  the  State.  It  salaries  none — but  protects 
them  all."  Other  influential  public  men  have  professed 
themselves  in  favor  of  separation.  The  payment  of  Roman 
Catholics,  Protestants,  and  Jews,  of  those  who  blaspheme 
the  Pvedeemer  as  well  as  of  those  who  adore  him,  must  be 
repugnant  to  thoughtful  and  conscientious  men,  because 
seen  to  be  political,  not  religious  ;  and  the  time  can  not  be 
far  off  when  it  will  be  abandoned.  In  Germany  this  step 
is  already  taken.  The  National  Assembly  at  Frankfort 
has  decreed  as  follows  : — 

"  Every  religious  communion  regulates  and  administers 
its  affairs  for  itself 

"  No  religious  commimion  may  be  favored  by  the  State 
to  the  exclusion  of  others. 

"  There  will  henceforth  be  no  State  Church. 

"  No  one  may  be  constrained  to  concur  in  the  ceremonies 
and  religious  acts  of  any  religion."^ 

^  "  Nul  ne  peut-etre  empeche  d'exercer,  en  se  conformant  aux 
lois,  le  culte  qu'il  a  choisi.  Nul  ne  peut-etre  force  de  contribuer 
aux  depenses  d'aucun  culte.  La  Republique  n'en  salarie  aucun." 
— Art.  354. 

^  I  have  only  .seen  this  fact  reported  in  the  Semeur,  where  it  is 
reported  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  Toute  communion  religieuse  regie  et  administre  elle-meme  ses 
affaires. 

"  Aucune  communion  religieuse  ne  doit  etre  favorisee  par  I'Etat 
a  I'exclusion  des  autres. 

"  II  n'y  aura  plus  dorenavant  d'Eglise  de  I'Etat. 

"  Nul  ne  peut-etre  contraint  de  concourir  aux  ceremonies  et  aux 
actes  religieux  d'un  culte." — Semeur,  Oct.  4,  1848, 


UPON  THE  GOVERNMENT.  415 

What  the  legislators  of  Paris  did  in  179-5,  and  those  of 
Frankfort  have  done  in  1848,  our  reformers  would  be 
likely  to  do  if  ever  they  assume  the  reins  of  government. 
For  they  would  depend  exclusively  on  the  parties  in  the 
State  who  are  enemies  to  privilege  ;  on  the  working  classes, 
the  great  majority  of  whom  are  without  the  elective  fran- 
chise ;  upon  Pwoman  Catholics,  who  detest  the  Establish- 
ment ;  and  upon  radical  reformers  like  themselves ;  all 
these  would  demand  the  dissolution  of  the  union ;  and 
when  they  are  strong  enough  to  carry  the  reformers  to 
power,  will  be  strong  enough  to  carry  that  measure  also. 
It  is  better  to  terminate  the  union  prudently  and  quietly 
than  to  leave  it  to  the  violence  of  such  an  epoch. 

Lastly,  a  crisis  of  another  kind  demands  the  same 
measure.  In  Ireland  the  Roman  Catholics  exclaim  loudly 
against  the  partiality  which  applies  large  national  resources 
to  maintain  the  pastors  of  a  small  and  rich  minority,  Avhile 
the  pastors  of  a  poor  majority  are  overlooked.  Our  states- 
men feel  that  this  can  not  go  on.  •  But  the  existence  of 
the  English  Establishment  hinders  any  satisfactory  settle- 
ment of  the  question.  To  endow  the  priests  is  against  the 
convictions  of  the  majority  of  this  kingdom,  as  it  is  contrary 
to  religious  principle.  Protestants  ought  not  to  vote  pub- 
lic money  for  the  promulgation  of  what  they  believe  to  be 
fatal  errors.  But  no  principle  forbids  the  disestablishment 
of  the  Protestant  churches,  which  by  placing  Catholics  on 
an  equality  with  Protestants  would  content  them.  What, 
then,  hinders  this  settlement  of  the  question  ?  It  is  chiefly 
the  fear  that  if  the  Irish  churches  were  severed  from  the 
State,  the  English  churches  must  soon  undergo  the  same 
great  change.  This  compels  each  successive  ministry  to 
uphold  the  Irish  Establishment.  But  Roman  Catholic 
millions  do  not  mean  to  acquiesce  in  their  social  inferiority, 
because  their  claims  are  inconvenient  to  a  party  in  power ; 
nor  do  they  mean  to  have  their  rights  withheld  because 
her  majesty's  ministers  wish  to  please  the  clergy.  It  is 
certain,  therefore,  that  their  claim  of  equality  must  become 
more  urgent  as  they  groAV  in  numbers  and  in  power  ;  and 
if  the   government   will   not   disestablish    the    Protestant 


416        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

church,  they  must  raise  a  co-ordinate  Roman  Catholic  Es- 
tabUshment.  They  can  not  avoid  it :  and  the  real  authors 
of  this  unprincipled  conclusion  will  be  those  Protestants 
who  resisted  the  religious  and  high-principled  arrangement, 
by  which  the  maintenance  of  divine  worship  in  the  Estab- 
lishments both  of  England  and  of  Ireland  would  have  been 
left  to  the  faith  and  zeal  of  their  members. 


Section  XI. —  The  Influence  of  the  Union  upon  the 
other  Religious  JElstablishments  of  Europe  and  of  the 
World. 

The  long  prevalence  of  the  pagan  and  papal  principle — 
the  union  of  Church  and  State — in  this  kingdom,  has  ren- 
dered powerful  support  to  the  more  corrupt  establishments 
in  Catholic  and  Greek  countries.  If  in  those  countries 
Protestantism  has  not  been  tolerated,  if  evangelists  have 
been  deported  to  the  frontiers,  if  peaceable  believers  could 
not  meet  for  Avorship,  and  Bibles  have  been  torn  up  or 
burned,  they  had  plausible  excuse  for  these  enormities, 
"  Even  England,"  they  might  say,  "  which  calls  itself  en- 
lightened, religious,  and  free,  has  asserted  the  right  of  the 
State  to  support  the  truth.  We  claim  the  same  right, 
only  we  are  more  consistent  than  the  government  of  En- 
gland, for  if  it  be  a  duty  to  support  the  truth,  it  must  be 
no  less  incumbent  on  the  State  to  repress  error.  We  only 
fulfill  the  double  duty,  and  while  we  uphold  Catholic  truth, 
we  forbid  the  audacious  rivalry  of  heretics  and  schismat- 
ics." In  this  case  the  heretics  and  schismatics  are  Angli- 
cans. 

But  when,  as  a  tribute  to  all-enduring  and  all-conquering 
truth,  the  union  is  dissolved,  when  there  is  enough  of  wis- 
dom, justice,  and  faith  in  this  country  to  compel  our  states- 
men to  leave  the  support  of  the  Gospel  to  the  faith  and 
love  of  Christ's  disciples,  when  Anglicans  are  no  longer 
corrupted  by  State  patronage,  and  free  churches  are  no 
longer  checked  by  State  discouragements,  when  religion  is 
no  longer  desecrated  by  being  made  a  supplement  to  the 
police,  when  unbeHevers  can  no  longer  say  that  the  belief 


UPON  OTHER  RELIGIOUS  ESTABLISHMENTS.      417 

of  the  Gospel  rests  upon  statutes  and  State  pensions,  when 
churches  and  pastors  having  regained  their  rights,  are  free  to 
obey  the  laws  of  Christ  in  all  things,  when,  with  this  re- 
covered freedom,  the  churches  regain  their  long-lost  energy, 
when  schisms  are  mitigated,  and  many  being  converted, 
religion  is  gaining  ground  in  the  country,  then  papal  and 
Greek  Establis^nments  must  fall.  ■  Germany  has  already 
set  us  the  example  of  this  wisdom  and  justice.  There  is 
no  union  of  the  Church  and  the  State  in  Germany  now. 
Austria  and  Bohemia  being  now  set  free,  the  Bible  and  other 
evangelical  M'ritings  may  be  freely  circulated  ;  evangelists 
may  preach  the  Gospel,  congregations  may  be  gathered, 
churches  may  be  organized,  they  may  choose  their  pastors, 
they  may  establish  their  schools.  And  throughout  the  rest 
of-  Germany,  conscience  being  disenthralled,  the  disciples 
of  Christ  may  set  themselves  to  reform  the  churches,  and 
seek  once  more  their  pristine  force  and  fervor. 

The  three  nations  of  Europe  which  are  taking  the  lead 
in  the  progress  of  civilization,  and'  setting  the  example  to 
all  the  rest,  are  England,  France,  and  Germany.  When 
Germany  and  England  have  both  separated  the  secular 
from  the  spiritual,  and  find  their  governments  and  their 
Churches  in  all  respects  gainers  by  the  change,  France, 
which  is  remodeling  its  institutions,  which  has  already 
once  abolished  the  union,  and  which  is  held  to  it  now  by  a 
mere  gossamer  thread,  will  confirm,  by  our  experience,  its 
previous  just  instincts,  and  will  set  its  churches  free.  The 
advantage  to  France  and  to  Europe  will  be  incalculable. 
Once  set  free  from  their  worldly  consistories,  nine  out  of  ten 
of  which  are  hostile  to  the  Gospel,  the  reformed  churches 
will  choose  not  infidel  pastors  but  evangelical.  Already 
they  have  worthy  successors  to  Claude  and  Daille,  to  Du 
Moulin  and  DreUncourt,  to  Morus  and  Mestrezat,  to  Co- 
ligny  and  Duplessis  Mornay.  And  when  their  eminent 
preachers,  unfettered,  shall  preach  the  Gospel  throughout 
France,  and  their  devoted  laymen,  as  Lutteroth,  Pressense, 
and  Gasparin,  shall  lead  them  in  all  their  evangelical  un- 
dertakings, they  will,  with  God's  blessing,  attain  a  holy 
energy  beyond  even  that  of  the  churches  of  the  desert. 


418        INFLUENCE  OF  THE  UNION  UPON  THINGS. 

But  for  poor,  old,  rickety,  blind,  withered,  and  pampered 
priestcraft,  hoAV  will  that  fare  ?  When  the  State  with- 
draws from  its  paralytic  and  trembling  limbs  the  couch  on 
which  it  has  been  reclining,  with  royalty  for  its  nurse, 
nothing  will  remain  for  it  but  the  grave. 

Now,  ima.gine  the  three  most  enlightened  and  powerful 
nations  of  Europe,  advancing  in  religion,  in  intelligence, 
and  in  wealth,  because  each  is  free  from  its  incubus  of  a 
State-union  with  the  Church.  Can  the  secondary  nations 
long  wear  their  ecclesiastical  chains  ?  Beyond  all  question 
many  years  will  not  pass,  after  the  emancipation  of  the 
churches  of  England,  France,  and  Germany,  before  all  the 
churches  of  Europe  will  be  free.  Hitherto  the  suicidal 
support  which  papal  governments  have  afforded  to  an 
exclusive  priesthood  in  the  southern  and  western  countries 
of  Europe,  has  effectually  excluded  the  Gospel  from  their 
populations.  But  when  those  tyrannical  unions  are  de- 
stroyed, the  banks  of  the  Douro,  the  Guadalquiver,  and  the 
Tagus,  will  resound  with  the  voice  of  evangelists  and  the 
hymns  of  evangelical  churches,  no  less  than  those  of  the 
Po  and  of  the  Tiber.  No  priestly  combination  then  will 
be  able  to  hinder  the  peasants  of  Catalonia  or  of  Lombar- 
dy  from  hearing  the  Gospel,  when  their  selfish  despotism 
is  no  longer  sustained  by  the  policeman  and  the  jail. 

A  new  era  is  dawning,  amidst  tempest,  upon  Europe — 
an  era  of  constitutional  governments  and  free  institutions — 
an  era  of  schools  and  libraries,  of  unfettered  discussion  and 
unrestricted  liberty  of  conscience — an  era  of  union  among 
Christians,  and  of  their  separation  from  the  world — an  era 
of  evangelical  energy  and  of  renovated  fervor.  But  fur- 
ther, when  from  the  heart  of  Europe  to  its  southern  and 
western  extremities,  numbers  emancipated  froin  priestcraft, 
are  rejoicing  in  the  ennobling  yoke  of  Christ,  and  liberty 
of  conscience  has  revived  the  piety  of  all  the  nations,  will 
the  millions  of  Russia,  down-trodden  and  lying  in  the  mire 
of  superstition  with  the  feet  of  the  czar  and  of  his  priests 
upon  their  necks  remain  hopelessly  prostrate  ?  Last  though 
the  Russians  may  be  to  burst  the  iron  chain  which  the 
strongest  of  modern  despotisms  has  riveted  upon  their  con- 


UPON  OTHER  RELIGIOUS  ESTABLISHMENTS.      419 

sciences,  the  autocrat  can  not  so  exclude  them  from  the 
brotherhood  of  nations  as  to  hinder  them  forever  from 
claiming  the  right  to  follow  Christ  according  to  their  own 
consciences.  The  rights  of  conscience,  more  precious  than 
all  other  rights,  can  not  long  be  denied  in  St.  Petersburg 
when  they  are  recognized  in  London  and  Paris,  in  Berlin 
and  Vienna,  in  Madrid  and  Rome. 

In  the  separation  of  the  churches  from  the  State  all  the 
world  is  essentially  interested.  For  it  the  strongest  think- 
ers of  Europe  and  the  most  devoted  Christians  have  con- 
tended. The  purest  churches  of  Europe  have  long  illus- 
trated its  M'orking  ;  it  has  been  put  to  the  test  by  a  great 
nation  across  the  Atlantic  with  extraordinary  success  ;  the 
events  of  Europe  are  happily  hastening  it  on  ;  and  may 
England  be  among  the  earliest  of  the  European  nations  to 
fulfill  the  duty  and  to  reap  the  advantages  ! 


PART    IIL 


ON  THE  MEANS  OF  PROMOTING  A  REVIVAL  OF  RELIGION 
IN  THE  COUNTRY. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  union  the  AngUcan  Churches 
have  sunk  into  a  low  rehgious  state.  In  the  great  major- 
ity  of  parishes,  as  we  have  too  much  reason  to  fear,  the 
Gospel  is  not  preached,  and  the  people  are  indifferent  to 
religion.  In  cities,  too,  there  is  a  vast  and  growing  pop- 
ulation to  whom  there  is  no  instruction  given.  Few  boys, 
as  far  as  my  knowledge  goes,  in  the  great  schools  for  the 
rich,  or  in  those  for  the  poor,  appear  to  love  and  serve  God. 
At  the  universities,  the  number  of  pious  young  men  is 
almost  confined  to  those  who  are  going  to  take  orders,  and 
even  among  these  many  make  no  profession  of  religion. 
Few  professional  men  do  much  to  promote  the  cause  of 
Christ.  Few  peers  or  members  of  Parliament  avow  evan- 
gelical opinions.  Not  one  thousandth  part  of  the  income 
of  the  kingdom  is  given  to  promote  the  cause  of  Christ 
among  the  heathen,  while  millions  are  spent  in  drunken- 
ness and  vice.  The  circulation  of  decent  writings  of  all 
sorts  is  said  to  be  less  than  that  of  publications  which  are 
infidel  or  licentious:  "11,702,000  copies  of  absolutely 
vicious  and  sabbath-breaking  newspapers  are  annually  cir- 
culated in  these  realms.  ...  Of  works,  infidel  and  polluting, 
there  are  circulated  a  yearly  average  of  10,400,000." 
"  If  we  sum  up  the  entire  yearly  circulation  of  pernicious 
literature  it  will  stand  thus  : — 


MEANS  OF  rHOMOTING  A  REVIVAL.  4.21 

Ten  stamped  papers 1 1,702,000 

Six  unstamped  papers 6,240,000 

About  sixty  miscellaneous  papers 10,400,000 

Worst  class 520,000 

Total 28,862,000 

Putting  together  the  annual  issues  of  Bibles,  Testaments, 
religious  tracts,  newspapers,  and  periodicals  of  every  kind, 
we  find  a  total  of  24,418,620,  leaving  a  balance  of 
4,443,380,  in  favor  of  pernicious  and  corrupting  litera- 
ture.^ 

Nearly  the  whole  of  the  working  classes  in  London,  and 
great  numbers  of  the  middle  and  upper  classes  too,  have 
renounced  public  worship.  The  Lord's  day  is  profaned  by 
a  large  amount  of  traveling,  of  business,  and  of  pleasure. 
Schisms  enfeeble  the  efforts  of  Christians  ;  and  religion  is 
making  little  progress  in  society. 

There  is  very  little  reason  to  hope  for  any  material  im- 
provement while  the  union  continues.  The  Establishment, 
in  allowing  the  State  to  govern  it  in  spiritual  things  with- 
out authority  from  Christ  so  to  do,  is  like  a  wife  who  has 
given  to  a  stranger  the  rights  of  her  husband  ;  and  the 
adulterous  alliance  can  not  have  his  blessing.  Through 
the  control  of  the  State,  the  Establishment  is  necessarily 
and  permanently  corrupted  by  w^orldly  prelates  and  worldly 
patrons,  who,  like  an  August  snow-storm  upon  a  garden  in 
Labrador,  must  speedily  destroy  any  partial  revival  which 
may  have  lasted  for  a  few  years.  Probably  three-fourths, 
at  least,  of  the  parish  churches  of  England  are  without  the 
Gospel ;  and  in  the  Establishment,  the  influence  of  a 
worldly  minister  to  corrupt  and  to  deceive  his  church  is 
unchecked  by  any  opposite  power.  The  parishes  can  not 
generally  rise  much  above  the  moral  level  of  their  pastors ; 
and  when  these  are  worldly  and  irreligious,  worldliness  and 
irreligion  are  sure  to  prevail  among  the  members  of  their 
congregations.  A  revival  of  religion,  if  it  ever  take  place, 
must  be  greatly  accomplished  by  the  doctrine  of  the  Gos- 
pel;   (John,  xvii.    17;   Eph.  vi.    17;   James,  i.    18)  but 

^  Power  of  the  Press,  quoted  in  Mr.  James's  "  Church  in  Ear- 
nest," pp.  94-96. 


422  MEANS  OF  PROMOTING  A  REVIVAL 

this  can  never  be  extensively  employed  in  the  Anglican 
Sta-te  Churches;  because,  1st.  The  great  majority  of  An- 
glican pastors  are  unevangelical,  and  exclude  the  Gospel 
from  their  pulpits  ;  2dly.  The  church  doctrine  of  baptismal 
regeneration  paralyzes  the  ministry  even  of  good  and  earnest 
men.  For  since  justification  accompanies  regeneration, 
baptismal  regeneration  is  baptismal  justification  ;  infants, 
therefore,  are  justified  as  well  as  regenerated  in  baptism  ; 
and  since  nearly  the  udiole  nation  is  baptized  in  infancy, 
nearly  the  whole  nation  is  therefore  justified  in  infancy  by 
baptism.  Thenceforth,  therefore,  they  are  no  more  dead 
in  sin,  or  heirs  of  wrath,  but  "  members  of  Christ,  children 
of  God,  and  inheritors  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;"  the 
threatenings  of  the  Gospel  are  addressed  to  them  in  vain, 
there  is  nothing  left  to  rouse  them  from  their  insensibility. 
Evangelical  Anglicans  might  indeed,  with  their  brethren  of 
the  free  churches,  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  in  the 
land,  but  the  union  excludes  the  former  from  nine  thousand 
out  of  twelve  thousand  pulpits  ;  and  has  created,  through- 
out the  country,  a  powerful  prejudice  against  the  latter. 

It  is  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  and  to  all  experience, 
that  with  all  these  sins  unrepented  and  unremoved,  there 
should  be  any  general  revival  of  religion  through  the  effu- 
sion of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Rather,  if  we  repent  not,  espe- 
cially after  light  has  been  thrown  upon  these  evils,  must 
we  expect  a  gradual  withdrawal  of  the  Spirit  from  the 
churches,  by  whose  adherence  to  sin  he  is  grieved. 

Section  I. —  What  may  be  clone  by  the  Free  Churches  to 
'promote  their  own  Spiritual  Improvement. 

Although  no  general  revival  of  religion  in  the  Anglican 
Churches  can  be  expected  till  the  auspicious  day  which 
shall  free  them  from  the  ecclesiastical  control  of  the  State, 
Christians  need  not  wait  for  that,  or  for  any  other  public 
act,  to  seek  a  revival.  The  apostles  did  not  wait  for  a 
reformation  of  the  Jewish  Church,  or  of  the  Roman  empire, 
before  they  began  to  seek  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  in  Judea  and  thioughout  the  world.      Individu- 


IN  THE  CHURCHES.  423 

ality  is  the  Spirit  of  Christ's  reh'gion,  as  blind  conformity- 
is  the  spirit  of  paganism  and  of  Romanism.  The  churches 
of  Christ  are  societies  of  beUevers,  who  think,  will,  and  act 
for  themselves,  in  obedience  to  Christ ;  as  pagan  and  Cath- 
olic commmiities  are  human  herds,  who  are  packed  together 
by  church  laws  and  by  State  laws,  as  the  potentate  and 
the  priest  may  determine. 

Each  individual,  therefore,  who  sees  that  the  State  pay 
is,  like  Achan's  gold,  an  accursed  thing,  which  troubles  the 
camp  of  Israel,  ought  to  cease  to  participate  in  it,  and  seek 
the  revival  of  the  cause  of  Christ  among  the  free  churches. 
Anglican  Churches  and  pastors  who  attain  to  this  knowl- 
edge, should  encourage  each  other  to  abandon  a  corrupt 
system.  The  church  should  offer  a  maintenance  to  its  pas- 
tor ;  the  pastor  should  adhere  to  his  church  ;  and  both 
should  come  out  from  an  unblessed  alliance  with  the  M'orld 
in  sacred  things.  In  city  congregations,  the  transition 
would  be  effected  without  much  difficulty. 

Free  churches  have  access  at  once  to  "various  methods 
by  which  th»y  may  seek  their  spiritual  improvement. 

Among  the  prominent  means  of  revival  provided  by 
Christ,  are  the  pastors  of  churches.  Each  of  these  can  do 
much  to  revive  the  piety  of  his  church. 

He  can  first  renew  his  entire  dedication  of  himself  to 
God,  and  accepting  salvation  with  all  the  inestima.ble 
blessings  accompanying  it  as  the  free  gift  of  God  to  him,  a 
ruined  sinner,  can  heartily  give  himself  up,  in  body  and 
soul,  to  the  service  of  the  Redeemer.  He  can  read  and 
meditate  on  the  lives  of  eminent  ministers  of  Christ,  as 
Paul,  Wickhffe,  Luther,  Calvin,  Bradford,  Wesley,  White- 
field,  Fletcher,  Brainerd,  Martyn,  Thomas  Scott,  John 
Venn,  Oberlin,  Neff,  Payson ;  and  determine,  by  the  help 
of  God,  to  resemble  them.  He  can  determine  to  set  him- 
self free  from  wordly  care,  by  bringing  his  expenditure 
completely  within  his  income,  whatever  that  may  be.  The 
example  of  Paul  is  before  him.  When  that  admirable 
man  preached  at  Thessalonica,  he  would  take  no  remunera- 
tion from  the  church  in  that  city,  because  they  were  poor ; 
upon  his  arrival  at  Corinth,  he  maintained  himself  there 


424  MEANS  OF  PROMOTING  A  REVIVAL 

by  tent-making,  and  received  no  money  from  the  church, 
because,  in  their  temper  of  mind,  he  saw  that  it  would 
lessen  the  success  of  his  ministry.  And  again  he  showed 
the  same  humility,  independence,  and  zeal  at  Ephesus.^ 
In  like  manner,  each  pastor,  renouncing,  for  the  sake  of 
Christ,  those  advantages  which  his  talents  and  education 
might  secure  him  in  a  secular  employment,  may,  by  reso- 
lute economy  and  simplicity  of  living,  "  owe  no  man  any 
thing,"  "  render  to  all  their  dues,"  avoid  "  entangling  him- 
self with  the  affairs  of  this  life,"  and  give  himself  wholly 
to  his  ministry.^ 

He  may  further  become,  through  the  help  of  God,  an 
example  of  every  Christian  grace  to  his  people  ;  a  pattern 
of  faith  and  love,  of  zeal  and  courage,  of  humility  and  self- 
denial,  of  charity,  patience,  and  forgiveness,  of  spirituality, 
and  of  social  virtue.  The  life  speaks  more  than  the  pulpit. 
Without  setting  a  high  example  the  pastor  can  do  nothing  ; 
but  example  is  seldom  lost.^ 

So  prepared,  he  may  preach  the  Gospel  to  his  people 
''  with  power,  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  much 
assurance,"  commending  the  truth  to  their  consciences  and 
hearts.  He  can  throw  similar  sincerity  and  earnestness 
into  his  superintendence  of  all  his  social  meetings  ;  the 
meetings  of  the  church,  of  the  Bible  classes,  of  Sunday- 
school  teachers,  of  visitors  of  the  poor,  of  cliildren,  of  serv- 
ants. Prayer-meetings,  missionary  meetings,  and  all  other 
meetings  for  social  intercourse,  may  feel  the  hallowed  influ- 
ence. 

To  these  may  be  added  personal  visitation  of  all  the 
families  composing  the  church,  in  which  he  may  stir  them 
up  to  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness, 
to  fulfill  in  a  Christian  manner  each  relative  duty.  Thus 
may  he  "  feed  the  fl.ock  of  God."  * 

1  1  Thess.  ii.  9 ;  2  Thess.  iii.  7-9  ;  Acts  xviii.  1-3  ;  1  Cor.  ix. 
11-15;   Acts  XX.  33-35. 

2  Rom.  xiii.  7,  8 ;  2  Tim.  ii.  3,  4 ;  Acts  vi.  2-4 ;  1  Tim.  iv. 
13,  15. 

3  1  Tim.  iii.  1-7;   Tit.  i.  7,  8 ;  Acts  xx.  28 ;    1  Tim.  iv.  16. 

*  1  Thess.  i.  5;  Acts  xx.  20,  28,  31 ;  1  Thess.  ii.  11  ;  1  Pet.  v. 
1,2. 


IN  THE  CHURCHES.  425 

In  so  doing,  pastors  are  usually  blessed  to  those  whom 
they  instruct,  Christ  has  appointed  them  for  this  end  : 
''He  has  give?i  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the  perfecting  of 
his  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying 
of  the  body  of  Christ."  Nor  when  they  do  their  duty 
will  he  let  their  labor  be  in  vain.  Most  encouraging  are 
the  promises  :  "  Take  heed  unto  thyself,  and  imto  the  doc- 
trine ;  co7itinue  in  them;  for  in  doing  this  thou  shalt 
both  save  thyself  and  them  tlwut  hear  thee  .  .  .  For  as  the 
rain  cometh  down,  and  the  snoio  from  heaven,  and  re- 
turneth  Twt  thither,  but  tvatereth  the  earth  and  maketh 
it  bring  forth  and  bud,  that  it  may  give  seed  to  the 
soiver,  and  bread  to  the  eater :  so  shall  my  word  be  that 
goeth  forth  out  of  7ny  mouth  ;  it  shall  not  return  unto 
me.  void,  but  it  shall  accomplish  that  ivhich  I  please,  and 
it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  ivhereto  I  sent  it.''  ^ 

Let  ministers  think  what  motives  they  have  to  animate 
them.  Blessings  beyond  all  value  are  attained  by  each 
believer,  and  a  curse  eternal  as  their  existence  is  about  to 
ruin  the  unconverted.  If  they  are  good  ministers  of  Jesus 
Christ,  work  hard,  set  high  examples,  bear  trial  patiently, 
love  much,  and  pray  fervently  ;  many  will  be  saved  by 
them  from  hell ;  many,  now  useless,  will  become  blessings 
to  the  church  and  to  the  world  ;  many,  after  loving  and 
honoring  them  now,  will  be  their  joy  and  their  crown  in 
heaven  ;  and  many  who  now  dishonor  Christ  will  live  to 
love  and  glorify  him. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  religion  decays  in  any  church,  if 
parents  degenerate  from  their  spirituality  and  zeal,  if  their 
children  grow  up  to  be  ungodly,  if  the  church  is  indolent, 
lethargic,  and  fruitless,  if  the  neighborhood  is  unblessed, 
because  the  pastor  is  selfish  and  idle,  soft  and  worldly,  be- 
cause he  only  half  believes  the  truths  which  he  preaches, 
sets  no  high  example,  and  neglects  prayer,  he  will  have  no 
pleasant  retrospect  on  his  death-bed.  For  he  has  chosen 
his  place  and  office.  No  one  forced  him  to  be  an  officer 
in  Christ's  army  and  a  shepherd  to  Christ's  flock.  If  the 
soldiers  are  defeated  and  disheartened,  because  he  is  a 
^  Eph.  iv.  11,  12;   1  Tim.  iv.  16;  Isa.  Iv.  10,  11. 


426  MEANS  OF  PROMOTING  A  REVIVAL 

cowardly  and  faithless  officer,  if  the  sheep  wander  to  their 
hurt,  because  he  is  an  idle  and  heartless  shepherd,  the  guilt 
of  all  this  lies  on  him.  Had  he  not  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  that  church,  another,  perhaps  would  have  been 
there,  who  w^ould  have  blessed  and  edified  them.  But 
now,  if  he  does  not  build  up  the  believers,  then  who  will  ? 
If  he  does  not  convert  and  save  the  careless,  who  else  will 
save  them  ?  ' '  Son  of  'man,  I  have  set  thee  a  ivatchman 
unto  the  house  of  Israel ;  therefore  thou  shalt  hear  the 
tvorcl  at  my  mouth,  and  warn  them  from,  me.  Whe?i  I 
say  unto  the  wicked,  O  wicked  man,  thou,  shalt  surely 
die  ;  if  thou  dost  not  speak  to  warn  the  wicked  from  his 
way,  that  wicked  tnan  shall  die  in  his  iniquity  ;  hut  his 
blood  ivill  I  require  at  thy  handT  ^ 

Members  of  churches  may  materially  aid  their  pastors 
in  seeking  an  extensive  revival  of  religion.  Each  is  bound 
to  be  a  decided  and  devoted  Christian  ;  ^  and  each  has 
means  at  command  by  which  he  may  become  so.^  If  a 
member  of  a  church  becomes  himself  a  devoted  man,  trains 
up  his  children  in  the  fear  of  God,  rules  his  household  in  a 
Christian  manner,  employs  his  wealth  in  doing  good, 
teaches  the  young,  visits  the  poor,  animates  his  fellow- 
Christians,  and  carries  his  religion  into  all  the  business  of 
life,  he  may  occasion  an  increase  of  piety  in  the  whole 
church  with  which  he  is  associated.* 

Much  more  may  a  few  earnest  persons  who  meet  often 
for  reading  the  Scriptures,  consultation,  and  prayer,  assist 
their  pastor  to  promote  a  revival  of  religion  in  the  whole 
church,  by  the  spirit  which  they  may  infuse  into  the 
church-meetings,  and  communicate  to  their  fellow-members 
as  Sunday-school  teachers,  visitors  of  the  poor,  and  mem- 
bers of  Bible  classes. 

^   Ezek.  xxxiii.  7,  8. 

2  Matt.  vi.  33;  Rom.  vi.  13;  xii.  1  ;  1  Cor.  vi.  19,  20;  Eph.  v. 
18;  2  Pet.  iii.  18;  Matt.  v.  48. 

3  Psalm  i.  1-3;  John  xvii.  17;  1  Thess.  ii.  13;  Col.  iii.  16; 
Eph.  vi.  17;  1  Pet.  ii.  1,  2;  2  Cor.  iii.  18;  Matt.  vi.  6;  vii.  7-11  ; 
xxi.  22;   John  xiv.  13,  14;  Phil.  iv.  6,  7. 

-«  Eph.  vi.  4,  9  ;  Col.  iii.  21  ;  iv.  1  ;  Matt.  vi.  19,  21  ;  1  Tim.  vi. 
17,  18. 


IN  THE  CHURCHES.  427 

How  effectually,  then,  may  a  united  churcli,  aware  that 
it  has  become  negligent  and  lukewarm,  promote  its  own 
revival  !  Let  its  members  set  themselves  heartily  to  obey 
the  following  precepts  of  Christ  by  his  apostles,  and  they 
can  not  fail  to  obtain  an  abundant  blessing  : — 

J^  Churches  to  repent. — "  /  have  somewJiat  against 
thee,  because  thou  liast  left  thy  first  love.  Remember, 
therefore,  from  whence  thoii  art  fallen,  and  repent,  and 

do  the  first  tvorks Be  ivatchful,  and  strengthen  the 

things  tvhich  remain,  which  are  readij  to  die  ;  for  I  have 
not  found  thy  works  perfect  before  God.  Kememher 
therefore  hoiv  thou  hast  received  and  heard  ;  and  hold 
fast,  and  repent.  As  many  as  I  love  J.  rebuke  and 
chasten  :  be  zealous  therefcrre,  and  repent.'' 

2.  Churches  to  obey  their  Pastors,  speaking  to  them  in 
the  Name  of  Christ. — "  We  beseech  you,  brethren,  to  knoiv 
them  ivhich  labor  among  you,  and  are  over  you  in  the 
Lo7'd,  and  admonish  you  ;  and  to  esteem  them  very  highly 

in  love  for  their  tcork's  sake ReiJiember  them  which 

have  the  rule  over  you,  who  liave  spoken  unto  you  the 

word  of  God  ;  whose  faith  follow Obeij  them  that 

have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves :  for  they 

watch  for  your  souls,  as  they  that  must  give  account 

Likewise,  ye  younger,  submit  yourselves  unto  the  elder.'" 

3.  Churches  to  meet  for  Mutual  Exhortation. — ''Not 
forsaking  the  assembling  of  yourselves  together,  as  the 
manner  of  some  is  ;  but  exhorting  one  another ;  and  so 
much  the  more,  as  ye  see  the  day  approaching.'' 

4.  Duties  of  Church  Members  to  each  other,  at  their 
Meetings  and  elsewhere. — "  JL  neia  commandment  I  give 
unto  you,  That  ye  love  one  another  :  as  I  have  loved  you, 
that  ye  love  one  another.  By  this  shall  all  tnen  know 
that  ye  are  mij  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  aiwther. 
....  Be  kindly  affectioned  one  to  another,  ivith  brotherly 

love,  in  honor  preferring  one  another As  touching 

brotherly  love,  ye  need  not  that  I  ivrite  unto  you  ;  for  ye 
yourselves  are  taught  of  God  to  love  one  another.  But 
we  beseech  ycnt,  brethren,  tliat  ye  increase  rrurre  and  more, 
....  We  know  tlmt  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life, 


428  MEANS  OF  PROMOTING  A  REVIVAL 

because  we  love  the  hrethren But  tvhoso  hath  this 

icorlcVs  goods,  a7id  seeth  his  brother  have  need,  and  shut- 
teth  up  his  boivels  of  compassion  from  him,  how  dwelleth 
the  love  of  God  in  him.  ?  .  .  .  .  My  little  children,  let  us 
not  love  in  tvord,  neither  in  tongue,  but  in  deed  and  in 

truth Endeavoring  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  spirit 

in  the  bond  of  peace Be  of  one  mind,  and  live  in 

peace For  I  say,  through  the  grace  given  unto  me, 

to  every  man  that  is  among  you,  not  to  think  of  himself 
moi-e  highly  than  he  ought  to  think  ;  but  to  think  soberly, 
according  as  God  hath  dealt  to  every  man  the  proportion 
of  faith Let  nothing  be  done  through  strife  or  vain- 
glory, but  in  louiiness  of  mind  let  each  esteem  other  better 

than  themselves All  of  you  be  subject  one  to  another, 

and  be  clothed  ivith  humility  :  for  God  resisteth  the  proud, 

and  giveth  grace  to  the  humble Him  that  is  weak 

in  the  faith  receive  ye,  but  not  to  doubtful  disputations. 
....  Wherefore  receive  ye  one  another,  as  Christ  also  re- 
ceived us  to  the  glory  of  God Let  all  bitterness, 

and  ivrath,  ajul  anger,  and  clamor,  and  evil  speaking,  be 
put  away  from  you,  ivith  all  malice  ;  and  be  ye  kind  one 
to  another,  tender-hearted,  forgiving  one  another,  even  as 

God  for  Christ's  sake  hath  forgiven  you Rejoice 

tvith  them  that  do  rejoice,  and  iveep  %vith  them  that  iveep. 
....  Be  of  the  same  mind  one  toivard  another.     Mind 

not  high  things,  but  condescend  to  men  of  loiv  estate 

Whosoever  will  be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be  your  serv- 
ant  Even  as  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  min- 
istered unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom 

for  many By  love  serve  one  another Look 

nx)t  every  man  07i  his  own  things,  but  everij  man  also  on 

the  things  of  others Wherefore  comfort  yourselves 

together,  and  edify  one  another Warn  them  that 

are  unruly,  comfort  the  feeble-7ninded,  support  the  weak. 
....  Exhort  one  another  daily,  while  it  is  called  to-day. 
....  Confess  your  faidts  one  to  another,  and  pray  one 
for  another.'' 

5.   Churches  to  exercise  Discipline. — ''Moreover,  if  thy 
brother  shall  trespass  against  thee,  go  and  tell  him  his 


IN  THE  CHURCHES.  429 

fault  between  thee  and  him  alone :  if  he  shall  hear  thee, 
thou  hast  gained  thy  brother.  But  if  he  ivill  not  hear 
thee,  then  take  ivith  thee  one  or  tivo  more,  that  in  the 
mouth  of  two  or  three  ivitnesscs  every  word  may  be  estab- 
lislied.  AtuL  if  he  shall  neglect  to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto 
the  church :  but  if  he  neglect  to  hear  the  church,  let  him 

be  to  thee  as  a  heathen  man  and  a  publican Now 

I  have  tvritten  to  you  not  to  keep  company,  if  any  man 
that  is  called  a  brother  be  a  fornicator,  or  covetous,  or  an 
idolater,  or  a  railer,  or  a  drunkard,  or  an  extortioner, 
ivith  such  a  one  no  not  to  eat.      Therefore  put  aivay  from 

among  yourselves  that  toicked  persoyi Mark  them 

which  cause  divisions  and  offenses  contrary  to  the  doctrine 

which  ye  liave  learned ;   and  avoid  them A  ma7i 

that  is  a  heretic  (factious)  after  the  first  and  second  admo- 
nition reject We  command  you,  brethren,  in  the 

name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  ivithdraiv  your- 
self f-om  every  brother  that  walketh  disorderly,  and  not 

after  the  tradition  ivhieh  he  received  of  us And  if 

any  man  obey  not  our  tvord  by  this  epistle,  nx)te  that  man, 
and  have  rio  company  tvith  him,  that  he  may  be  ashamed.'' 

6.  Churches  to  restore  BacksHders. — "Ifci  man  be  over- 
taken in  a  fault,  ye  ivhich  are  spiritual  restore  such  a  one 
in  the  spirit  of  meekness.'" 

1 .  Churches  to  labor  for  Christ. — "  Therefore,  my  be- 
loved brethren,  be  ye  steadfast,  unmovable,  ahvays  abound- 
ing in  the  ivork  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  you  knoiv  that 

your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord Let  your 

conversation  be  as  it  becometh  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  that 
whether  I  come  and  see  you,  or  else  be  absent,  I  may  hear 
of  your  affairs  that  ye  stand  fast,  ivith  one  mind,  striving 

together  for  the  faith  of  the  Gospel It  was  needfid 

for  me  to  exhort  you  that  ye  should  earnestly  contend  for 
the  faith  which  tvas  once  delivered  to  the  saints.'" 

8.  Church  Members  to  seek  Spiritual  Progress. — ''Be 
ye  perfect  as  your  Father  tvhich  is  in  heaven  is  p)erfect. 

.  ...  Be  ye  filled  ivith  the  Spirit Grow  in  grace 

and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lard  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ:' 


430  MEANS  OF  PROMOTING  A  REVIVAL 

9.    Churches  to  abound  in  united  Prayer. — ''Pray  ivith- 

out  ceasing Fraying  ahvays  loith  all  iirayer  and 

supplication  in  the  Spirit,  and  ivatching  thereunto  ivith 

all  perseverance  and  supplication  for  all  saints If 

two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as  touching  any  thing 
that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven.  For  where  tivo  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  my  oiarne,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them. 
....  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you  ;  seek,  and  ye  shall 
firul ;  hiocki  f^^d  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.  If  ye 
being  evil  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  tmto  your  children, 
how  much  more  shall  your  heavenly  Farther  give  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him  ?"  ^ 

Humiliation  and  confession  of  sin  in  pubHc  and  in  pri- 
vate, frequant  church-meetings  for  consultation  and  prayer, 
the  exercise  of  a  spirit  of  kindness,  forbearance,  and  forgive- 
ness toward  each  other,  humble  and  courteous  manners  in 
all  to  all,  at  their  church-meetings  to  avoid  disputation,  to 
serve  each  other  by  multiplied  friendly  acts,  to  exhort  each 
other  to  diligence  in  duty,  to  repress,  censure,  or  excommu- 
nicate ofienders,  and  to  persevere  in  united  prayer  for  the 
Holy  Spirit,  would  speedily  restore  a  church  which  has  lost 
its  zeal  and  love. 

Besides  these  means,  any  church  and  pastor  anxious  to 
obtain  spiritual  improvement  may  invite  the  visits  of  the 
most  earnest  ministers  of  Christ  in  the  country.  When 
the  first  churches  of  Christ  were  visited  by  Paul,  Barnabas, 
and  Silas,  they  were  thereby  confirmed  in  piety. ^  When 
the  apostle  Paul  could  not  visit  any  churches  himself,  he 
sent  experienced  and  zealous  evangelists,   the  companions 

1  Rev.  ii.  4,  5;  iii.  2,  3,  19;  1  Thess.  v.  12,  13  ;  Heb.  xiii.  7, 
17;  1  Pet.  V.  5;  Heb.  x.  25;  John  xiii.  34,  35;  Rom.  xii.  10; 
1  Thess.  iv.  9,  10;  1  John  iii.  14;  Eph.  iv.  3;  2  Cor.  xiii.  11; 
1  Cor.  i.  18;  Rom.  xii.  3;  Phil.  ii.  3  ;  1  Pet.  v.  5;  Rom.  xiv.  1; 
XV.  7;  Eph.  iv.  31,  32;  Rom.  xii.  15,  16;  1  Pet.  iii.  8;  1  John 
iii.  18;  1  Thess.  iv.  18;  Matt.  xx.  27;  Gal.  v.  13;  Phil.  ii.  4; 
1   Thess.  V.  11,  14;   Heb.  iii.  13;   James  v.  16;   Matt,  xviii.  17; 

1  Cor.  V.   11  ;    Rom.  xvi.   17;    Tit.  iii.   10;    2  Thess.  iii.   6,   14; 

2  Cor.  ii.  6,  7;  Gal.  vi.  1 ;  1  Cor.  xv.  58 ;  Phil.  i.  6,  7,  27;  Jude  3j 
Matt.  V.  48;  2  Pet.  iii.  18;  1  Thess.  v.  17;  Eph.  vi.  18;  Matt, 
xviii.  19,20;  Lukexi.9,  13.  -  Acts  xiv.  21-23 ;  xv.  40  41. 


IN  THE  CHURCHES.  431 

of  his  lalDors,  and  animated  with  his  own  spirit,  to  do  them 
good.  The  church  of  PhiUppi  was  visited  by  Timothy 
A.D.  56  ;  by  Epaphras,  a.d.  62  ;  and  then  again  by  Tim- 
othy, A.D.  62.^  The  church  of  Thessalonica  was  visited 
by  Timothy,  a.d.  51,  and  a.d.  56. ^  The  church  of  Cor- 
inth was  visited  by  Timothy,  a.d.  57  ;  by  Apollos,  a.d.  57  ; 
and  by  Titus,  a.d.  58.^  And  the  church  of  Ephesus  was 
visited  by  Timothy,  a.d.  57,  and  twice  by  Tychicus,  a.d. 
61  and  a.d  65^  These  earnest  evangehsts,  Timothy, 
Titus,  Tychicus,  Epaphras,  and  others  like  them,  visiting 
the  apostoUc  churches  from  time  to  time,  would  correct, 
reform,  instruct,  and  animate  them,  revive  a  dying  church 
like  Sardis,  and  restore  to  zeal  a  lukewarm  church  like 
that  at  liaodicea.  If,  in  a  similar  manner,  an  experienced 
and  earnest  minister  should  come  from  an  earnest  and 
active  church  to  any  church,  by  mvitation  of  the  pastor 
and  people,  to  preach  to  them  in  their  place  of  worship, 
address  their  church-meeting,  exhort  their  children,  Sunday 
school-teachers,  and  visitors  of  the  peor,  and  hold  with  them 
meetings  for  united  prayer,  that  church  might  be  revived 
and  strengthened. 

Still  larger  effects  might  follow  if  a  number  of  churches 
would  follow  the  precedents  set  iis  by  divine  appointment 
in  the  history  of  the  Jews.  Great  revivals  of  religion 
followed  their  sacred  festivals,  when  they  solemnly  spent 
a  whole  week  together  in  the  exercises  of  religion.^  Not 
less  earnest  and  persevering  was  the  Pentecostal  church 
at  Jerusalem,  which  won  from  God  still  larger  blessings.^ 
Why  should  not  many  of  the  free  churches  of  England 
follow  these  examples  ?  Let  each  church  hold  some  pre- 
liminary meetings  for  conversation  and  prayer  ;  let  its  mem- 
bers so  arrange  their  business  as  to  be  able  to  devote  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  each  day  to  the  exercises  of  re- 
ligion ;   and  then  inviting  three  or  four  earnest  ministers  to 

1  Acts  xix.  22;  Phil.  ii.  25,  19. 

2  1  Thess.  iii.  2 ;  Acts  xix.  22. 

3  1  Cor.  iv.  17  ;  xvi.  12;   2  Cor.  vii.  6;  viii.  6. 
^  1  Tim.  i.  3  ;   Eph.  vi.  21 ;  2  Tim.  iv.  12. 

^  1  Kings  viii.  65;  2  Kings  xxiii.  21;  2  Chron.  xxxv.  1-19  j 
XXX.  21-27.  6  Acts  ii.  42,  46,  47. 


432  MEANS  OF  PROMOTING  A  REVIVAL 

spend  with  them  such  a  sacred  week  as  Solomon  kept  at 
the  dedication  of  the  temple,  and  Josiah  at  the  celebration 
of  the  Passover,  they  might  obtain  a  spiritual  improvement 
never  to  be  again  lost. 

Nothing  is  so  likely  to  increase  the  piety  of  the  churches 
as  to  obtain  a  large  number  of  able  and  devoted  ministers  ; 
and  as  God  alone  can  fit  men  for  the  office,  or  incline  their 
hearts  to  undertake  it,  our  Lord  has  said  to  us,  ''Pray  ye 
the  Lord  of  the  harvest  tliut  he  wiU  send  forth  laborers 
into  his  harvest.''  Yet  it  is  ever  his  will  that  we  should 
use  all  the  means  in  our  power  to  attain  each  important 
end ;  and  it  is  worthy  the  attention  of  the  thoughtful 
friends  of  religion,  how  the  ablest  and  most  pious  young 
men  may  be  brought  into  the  ministry,  and  how  their  theo- 
logical education  may  be  conducted  in  the  manner  the  most 
effective  to  prepare  them  for  an  energetic  and  fervent 
ministry. 

Much  spiritual  improvement  may  be  obtained  by  the 
churches  generally  if  meetings  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance 
are  held  throughout  the  country  with  especial  reference  to 
the  revival  of  religion.  At  their  general  meetings  why 
should  not  the  most  holy,  experienced,  and  successful  minis- 
ters of  Christ  in  the  country  be  charged  with  the  duty  of 
addressing  the  assembled  brethren  on  the  subject  ?  And 
why  should  they  not,  after  long  thought  and  prayer,  come 
forth  in  the  spirit  Avith  which  Paul  addressed  his  parting 
counsels  to  the  pastors  of  Ephesus,  to  lay  it  upon  the  con- 
sciences of  us  all  that  we  grow  in  grace,  and  serve  the 
church  of  Christ  and  the  world  with  more  devoted  assiduity  ? 

All  this  may  clearly  be  done  by  the  churches  as  they 
now  are,  if  they  will  do  it.  A  revival  of  religion  is  not 
withheld  by  God,  but  unsought  by  ourselves.  Let  the 
churches  ask,  and  they  will  have. 

But  if  the  pastors  and  churches  of  England  have  so  little 
faith  that  they  will  not  effectually  seek  a  large  effusion  of 
grace  by  vigorous  and  sustained  exertions,  the  case  is  not 
hopeless.  Think  what  God  has  done  in  the  church  by 
individuals.  How  much  did  John  alone  prepare  the  way 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ !     How  few  of  the  first  disciples 


THROUGHOUT  THE  COUNTRY.  433 

of  our  Lord  laid  the  foundations  of  the  universal  church  ! 
How  great  a  work  was  wrought  in  Asia  and  Europe  by 
the  single  labors  of  Paul  I  How  small  the  number  of  the 
reformers  who  tore  from  the  grasp  of  the  raging  Church  of 
Rome  one-third  of  its  victims  I  How  much  this  country 
owes  to  Whitefield  and  Wesley  I  If  many  are  not  prepared 
to  seek  a  great  spiritual  improvement  of  the  churches,  let 
a  few  then  seek  it. 

Each  earnest  believer  in  Christ  who  reads  this  book 
may  determine  to  give  himself  entirely  up  to  the  service  of 
God  and  of  his  fellow-creatures,  hi  his  iiresent  'place  and 
calling,  so  as  to  seek  to  revive  the  religion  of  his  fellow- 
Christians  by  all  means  in  his  power.  Especially  let  each 
of  us,  who  are  ministers  of  Christ  do  this. 

-And  if  only  a  few  earnest  and  thoughtful  men,  after 
renevidng  the  dedication  of  themselves  to  God,  combine  to 
promote  an  extensive  revival  of  religion  in  this  country,  no 
one  can  say  how  much  they  may  effect.  Let  them  read, 
think,  and  converse  upon  the  subject ;  let  them  use  all  the 
means  which  the  providence  of  God  may  place  within  their 
reach  ;  above  all,  let  them  earnestly  commit  the  matter  to 
him  to  whom  the  glory  of  his  Son  and  the  salvation  of  his 
perishing  creatures  are  objects  far  dearer  than  they  arc  to 
the  most  holy  and  most  loving  of  his  people  upon  earth, 
and  he  will  not  reject  their  prayers. 

Section  II. —  What  onay  be  dmie  for  the.  Extensio?t  of 
Religion  throughout  the  Country. 

God  has  spoken  in  his  word  with  merciful  distinctness 
of  the  condition  of  those  who  do  not  trust  in  Christ  alone 
for  their  salvation,  through  the  converting  and  sanctifying 
influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  he  has  left  no  room  to 
doubt  his  decision  at  the  last  day  respecting  their  state. 
Let  the  reader  weigh  carefully  those  passages  of  the  word 
of  God^  which  expressly  declare,  that  they  are  under  the 

1  John  iii.  16,  36;  Mark  xvi.  16;  Gal.  iii.  10;  1  Cor.  xvi.  22; 
Heb.  ii.  1-4 ;  x.  28,  29  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  4-9 ;  Rom.  ii.  6-9 ;  2  Thess.  i. 
7-9:  Matt.  iii.  12. 

T 


434  MEANS  OF  PROMOTING  A  REVIVAL 

righteous  curse  of  God,  and  can  expect  nothing  but  de- 
struction after  death.  Such  being  the  condition  and  pros- 
pects of  all  unbelievers,  a  great  moral  change  must  be 
wrought  in  them  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  through  their 
efforts,  prayers,  and  meditation  on  the  word  of  God,  or 
they  can  not  escape  their  merited  and  certain  doom.^  To 
accomplish  this  renovation  of  their  fallen  nature,  Christ 
has  appointed  ministers  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  them.^ 
There  are,  perhaps,  9000  preachers  of  the  Gospel  in  En- 
gland;  3000  in  the  Establishment  and  6000  in  other 
denominations.  How  crippled,  feeble,  slothfiil,  timid,  and 
selfish  we  must  be  I  What  cowardly  soldiers,  what  idle 
servants,  what  heartless  friends  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
if  we  do  not  somehow  make  the  sixteen  millions  of  our 
countrymen  to  hear  distinctly  that  there  is  salvation  by 
grace  through  faith  to  every  one  that  believeth  in  Jesus  I 

As  his  ministers  we  may  abandon  all  learned  trifling, 
all  idle  ornament,  and  simply,  earnestly,  affectionately, 
and  solemnly  entreat  men  to  seek  the  salvation  of  their 
souls. ^  We  may  with  faith  and  prayer  follow  up  the  im- 
pressions made  in  public  by  pastoral  visits,  seeking  affection- 
ately to  turn  each  individual  of  the  family — parents, 
children,  servants — to  a  life  of  godliness.  We  may  gather 
rich  and  poor,  heads  of  families,  young  men,  young  women, 
children,  servants,  into  separate  associations  for  reading  the 
Scriptures  and  prayer  ;  to  all  which  meetings  we  may  bring 
earnest  desires  for  their  conversion  and  salvation,  with  hum- 
ble dependence  on  the  Holy  Spirit  through  Christ. 

Were  we  half  alive  to  the  greatness  of  our  work,  to  the 
value  of  salvation,  to  the  danger  of  the  unconverted,  and 
to  our  solemn  responsibility,  we  should  endeavor  to  convert 
the  children  in  our  schools,  the  poor  in  their  cottages,  the 
rich  in  their  drawing-rooms,  and  strangers  wherever  we 
might  meet  them. 

^  John  iii.  3;  Matt,  xviii.  3;  Acts  iii.  19;  James  v.  20;  John 
i.  12,  13;   Gal.  iii.  26;   1  Pet.  i.  23;   James  i.  18;  Rom.  viii.  14. 

3  Matt,  xxviii.  18-20;  Acts  xxvi.  17,  18;  1  Tim.  iv.  16;  Eph. 
iv.  11 ;  Mark  xvi.  20;  1  Pet.  i.  12. 

^  1  Thess.  i.  5;  1  Cor.  v.  11  ;  2  Cor.  v.  20. 


THROUGHOUT  THE  COUNTRY.  435 

We  should  be  more  solicitous  respecting  our  example 
than  even  respecting  our  preaching  :  and  should  wish  that 
all  our  friendships,  domestic  arrangements,  and  personal 
habits,  might  recommend  rehgion  to  the  unconverted. 

Nor  should  we  then  labor  alone.  Each  would  be 
anxious  to  see  the  wisdom,  piety,  and  experience  of  other 
ministers  made  useful  to  his  people.  Ministers  of  the  same 
neighborhood  would  then  meet  often  and  earnestly  to  con- 
sider how  they  might  unitedly  carry  on  the  work  of  God  in 
their  neighborhood. 

What  might  not  nine  thousand  evangelical  ministers  do 
for  their  country  if  they  were  united,  affectionate,  self- 
denying,  and  strong  in  faith  1 

The  efforts  of  ministers  may  be  rendered  more  than 
doubly  effective,  if  they  are  sustained  by  the  similar  efforts 
of  the  pious  members  of  their  churches.  Each  saved  sin- 
ner should  seek  to  save  his  neighbor  ;  each  redeemed  dis- 
ciple should  make  known  his  Redeemer  ;  each  child  of 
God  should  glorify  his  heavenly  Father.  When  the  Jew- 
ish sanhedrim  and  their  adherents  burst  like  a  company  of 
wolves  upon  the  flock  of  Christ  at  Jerusalem,  and  his 
sheep  were  scattered  in  all  directions,  they  did  not  retire 
from  the  scene  of  slaughter  to  bury  their  faith  in  silence. 
Even  in  retreat  they  were  meditating  victory  ;  and  "  they 
that  ivere  scattered  abroad  %cent  every  ivhere  -preachiyig 
the  wordy  ^  Divine  power  attended  their  testimony ; 
"  The  liand  of  the  Lord  tvas  with  them;  and  a  great 
number  believed  and  turned  to  the  LordT'^  So  let  all 
do  who  at  this  day  are  true  disciples  of  Christ.  By  con 
versation  with  irreligious  persons,  by  giving  and  lending 
Christian  books,  by  drawing  them  to  hear  earnest  preach- 
ing, by  a  consistent  example,  and  by  much  prayer,  let 
them  seek  to  save  as  many  as  possible  among  their  uncon- 
verted relations,  friends,  and  neighbors.  ''If  thus  men  and 
women  in  every  rank  and  situation  were  to  strive  to  do 
good,  if  Christian  members  of  the  government,  Christian 
noblemen,  and  members  of  Parliament,  Christian  land- 
owners, Christian  bankers  and  merchants,  Christian  lawyers 

^  Acts  viii.  1-4.  *  Acts  xi.  19-22. 


436  MEANS  OF  PROMOTING  A  REVIVAL 

of  every  department,  Christian  shop-keepers  and  manufac- 
turers, Christian  clerks,  artisans,  and  laborers,  would,  in 
loyalty  to  Christ,  and  in  charity  to  their  fellow-men,  strive 
to  convert  them,  no  one  can  fully  estimate  the  results 
which  would  follow. 

But  the  combined  action  of  revived  churches  may  be  far 
more  effective  to  convert  men  to  God  than  the  efforts  of 
either  ministers  or  members  individually  can  be.  The 
piety  of  the  church  of  Christ  is  ordained  by  God  to  do 
great  things  yet.      Let  us  listen  to  his  word. 

''God  he  merciful  to  tis  and  bless  us,  and  cause  his  face 
to  shine  upon  us.  That  thy  ivay  may  be  known  upon 
earth,  thy  salvation  {j\T\)l^'^^)  among  all  nations.  The 
peoples  shall  praise  thee,  0  God ;  all  the  peoples  shcdl 
pi-aise  thee.^  ....  Arise,  shine;  for  thy  light  is  come, 
and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen  upmi  thee.  For, 
behold,  the  darkness  shall  cover  the  earth,  and  gross 
darkness  the  people :  but  the  Lard  shall  arise  upon  thee, 
and  his  glory  shall  be  seen  %ipon  thee.  And  the  gen- 
tiles shall  come  to  thy  light ;  and  kings  to  the  bright- 
ness of  thy  rising.^  .  ...  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth. 
Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world.  Let  your  light  so  slmie 
before  men,  that  they  may  see  your  good  icorks,  and 
glorify  your  Father  ichich  is  in  heaven.^  ....  Neither 
pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  than,  also,  ivho  shall  believe 
on  me  through  their  tvorcl ;  that  they  may  be  one,  as  than. 
Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they,  also,  may  be 
one  in  us,  tluit  the  world  may  believe  that  thmt  hast  se7it 
me."*  These  passages  were  illustrated  by  the  effects  of 
the  grace  of  God  upon  the  first  church  of  Christ  ever 
formed.  Three  thousand  Jews  having  been  converted  to 
God  upon  the  day  of  Pentecost,  we  read  of  them  as  follows  : 
''They  continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and 
felloivship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayers. 
And  all  that  believed  %vere  together,  and  had  all  things 
common  ;  and  sold  their  possessions  and  goods,  and  parted 

'  Db3  D^rp^  ?jnv  D^n'?x  d'oj;  ^m)\  Ps.  ixvii.  1-3. 

2  Isaiah  Ix.  1-3.  '"  »  Matt.  v.  13,  14,  16. 

"  John  xvii.  20,  21. 


THROUGHOUT  THE  COUNTRY.  437 

them  to  all  me7i,  as  every  man  Imd  need.  And  they,  coiir 
tinning  daily  with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  and  break- 
ing bread  from  house  to  Iwuse,  did  eat  their  meat  with 
gladness  and  si?igle?iess  of  heart,  praising  God  and  having 
favor  with  all  the  people.  And  the  Lord  added  to  the 
church  daily  rovg  ooj^ofj-evovg,  those  that  tvere  saved."  ^ 
Their  confession  of  Christ  in  the  expectation  of  severe  trial, 
their  diligence  in  seeking  Christian  knowledge,  their  united 
prayer,  their  brotherly  love,  their  joy  and  thankfulness,  so 
acted  upon  men's  consciences  and  hearts,  that  some  souls 
were  saved  daily  through  the  blessing  of  God  upon  their 
piety.  Similar  grace  in  any  church  would  produce  similar 
results.  Other  primitive  churches  followed  their  example.^ 
Were  all  the  churches  of  Christ  now  to  be  thus  adorned 
with  moral  glory,  as  they  might  be,  its  influence  on  the 
minds  of  men  would,  with  the  grace  of  God,  which  is  ever 
ready  to  bless  his  obedient  people,  transform  the  world. 

But  the  members  of  Christ's  churches  are  called  not 
only  to  let  their  example  shine,  buf  as  Christ's  soldiers  and 
servants  to  strive  and  labor  directly  to  subdue  the  world  to 
him.^ 

Each  church  may  obviously  do  much  to  save  souls. 
They  may  meet  to  consider  what  special  facilities  for  doing 
good  the  neighborhood  may  afford,  and  unitedly  to  pray  for 
the  progress  of  the  Gospel  throughout  it.  Some  may  be- 
come visitors  of  the  poor,  and  secure  a  circulation  of  Chris- 
tian tracts,  and  a  supply  of  the  Scriptures  for  the  district. 
Some  may  become  Sunday-school  teachers  and  visitors  of 
day-schools  for  the  poor.  Some  may  superintend  libraries 
for  the  working  classes.  Some  may  become  evangelists  to 
all  the  neighboring  villages,  while  the  whole  church  may 
bear  the  expenses  attending  their  labors,  and  encourage 
them  by  their  prayers. 

Christians  of  various  denominations  may  be  usefully 
associated  for  objects  common  to  them  all.  Why  do  not 
greater  numbers  zealously  support  the  British  and  Foreign 

^  Acts  ii.  42-47. 

2  Acts  ix.  31  ;  Rom.  i.  8;  2  Cor.  iii.  2  ;  Phil.  ii.  15,  16;  1  Thess. 
i.  6-8.  3  1  Cor.  XV.  58 ;  Phil.  i.  27 ;  Rev.  ii.  1-5. 


438  MEANS  OF  PROMOTING  A  REVIVAL 

Bible  Society  ?  Why  is  not  the  Tract  Society  so  zealously 
sustained  that  its  wholesome  literature  may  surpass  the 
number  of  infidel  and  licentious  publications  by  millions  ? 
Why  is  not  the  London  City  Mission,  upon  which  the 
blessing  of  God  has  so  signally  rested,  enabled  to  visit  all 
the  poor  of  London  by  means  of  four  hundred  missionaries 
instead  of  half  of  them  by  means  of  two  hundred  ?  Why 
are  not  the  Home  Missionary  and  the  Town  Mission  Soci- 
eties enabled  to  send  faithful  preachers  and  paid  missiona- 
ries into  every  ignorant  and  vicious  parish  in  the  kingdom  ? 

Further,  as  our  age  is  distinguished  by  unprecedented 
mental  activity,  and  learned  men,  without  the  smallest 
respect  for  revelation,  are  pushing  their  researches  in  every 
direction,  some  of  them  not  only  criticising  with  freedom, 
but  questioning  Mith  an  air  of  philosophical  impartiality, 
its  inspiration,  its  historical  fidelity,  its  doctrines,  and  its 
morals,  the  churches  ought  to  employ  some  of  their  ablest 
minds  to  add  from  time  to  time  satisfactory  works  on 
evidence  to  those  already  in  existence,  which  may  maintain 
Christianity  itself  and  its  great  truths  against  all  modern 
opponents. 

It  seems  to  me  that  10,800Z.  could  now  be  very  usefully 
employed  by  any  opulent  Christian  in  the  following  man- 
ner. Let  the  greatest  minds  in  the  churches  of  Christ,  in 
Great  Britain,  the  United  States,  France,  and  Germany, 
be  invited  to  devote  their  thoughts  to  the  defense  of  religion 
by  the  following  prizes,  open  to  competition  in  the  three 
languages. 

2000Z.  for  each  of  the  best  essays  on  the  four  following 
subjects  : — 

1 .  The  Being  and  Attributes  of  God. 

2.  The  Person  and  Work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

3.  The  Person  and  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

4.  The  Authenticity,  Inspiration,  and  Character  of  the 
Books  of  the  Bible. 

lOOZ.  should  be  given  to  each  of  the  three  next  best 
essays  in  each  of  the  three  languages  ;  so  that  each  lan- 
guage should  have  one  native  essay  besides  the  successful 
one. 


THROUGHOUT  THE  COUNTRY.  439 

501.  should  be  given  for  each  best  translation  of  the 
sixteen  essays, 

10,800Z.  so  spent  would  be  an  exemplary  tribute  of 
gratitude  to  God  from  some  opulent  Christian, 

What  comparable  results  will  flow  from  the  10,000Z. 
lately  given  by  the  king  of  Prussia  to  endow  a  bishopric  at 
Jerusalem?  or  from  the  20,000Z,  spent  by  the  bishop  of 
Calcutta  upon  his  cathedral?  or  from  the  30,000/.  lately 
given  by  a  benevolent  lady  to  erect  a  new  church  in  West- 
minster ?  It  would  call  forth  the  talent  of  some  of  the 
strongest  minds  to  the  defense  and  illustration  of  the  only 
religion  which  can  bless  and  save  mankind  ;  it  might  set 
the  mind  of  Europe  on  the  side  of  the  Gospel ;  it  would 
defeat  Pantheism  and  Romanism,  and  it  would  go  far  to 
Christianize  the  literature  of  the  four  great  nations  which 
are  leading  the  civilization  of  the  world. 


CONCLUSION. 

The  union  of  the  Churches  with  the  State  is  doomed. 
Condemned  by  reason  and  rehgion,  by  Scripture  and  by 
experience,  how  can  it  be  allowed  to  injure  the  nation 
much  longer  ?  All  the  main  principles  upon  which  it 
rests  are  unsound.  Its  State-salaries,  its  supremacy,  its 
patronage,  its  compulsion  of  payments  for  the  support  of 
religion,  are  condemned  by  both  the  precedents  and  the 
precepts  of  the  word  of  God.  We  have  seen  that  it  sheds 
a  blighting  influence  upon  prelates,  incumbents,  curates, 
and  other  members  of  churches.  It  adds  little  to  the 
number  of  pastors,  it  distributes  them  with  a  wasteful  dis- 
regard to  the  wants  of  the  population,  and  it  pays  least 
those  whom  it  ought  to  pay  most  liberally.  It  excludes 
the  Gospel  from  thousands  of  parishes  ;  it  perpetuates  cor- 
ruptions in  doctrine  ;  it  hinders  all  scriptural  discipline  ;  it 
desecrates  the  ordinances  of  Christ,  confounds  the  church 
and  the  world,  foments  schism  among  Christians,  and 
tempts  the  ministers  of  Christ  both  in  and  out  of  the 
Establishment  to  be  eager  politicians.  Further,  it  embar- 
rasses successive  governments,  maintains  one  chief  element 
of  revolution  in  the  country,  renders  the  reformation  of  the 
Anglican  Churches  hopeless,  hinders  the  progress  of  the 
Gospel  throughout  the  kingdom,  and  strengthens  all  the 
corrupt  papal  Establishments  of  Europe. 

Worst  of  all,  it  "  grieves"  and  "  quenches"  the  Spirit  of 
God,  who  can  not  be  expected  largely  to  bless  the  churches 
which  will  not  put  away  their  sins.^ 

^  Ps.  Ixvi.  18;  Isaiah  i.  15,  16;  lix.  1,  2;  John  ix.  31;  xv.  7; 
1  John  iii.  22;  Eph.  iv.  30;   1  Thess.  v.  19. 


CONCLUSION.  441 

But  when  it  shall  be  destroyed,  we  have  reason  to  hope 
that  the  churches  will  revive  in  religion  speedily.  Sound 
doctrine  will  then  be  heard  from  most  of  the  Anglican 
pulpits  ;  evangelists  will  go  forth  into  every  part  of  the 
land  ;  scriptural  discipline  will  be  restored  ;  schisms  will 
be  mitigated  ;  Christian  ministers  will  cease  to  be  political 
partisans  ;  we  may  look  for  a  larger  effusion  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  ;  and  England  may  become  the  foremost  of  the 
nations  in  godliness  and  virtue. 

Let  all  who  fear  and  love  God  arise  to  accomplish  this 
second  Reformation.  The  work  which  our  martyred  fore- 
fathers began  in  the  face  of  the  dungeon  and  the  stake,  let 
us,  in  their  spirit,  complete  I 

If  any  one  is  undecided  respecting  the  principles  advo- 
cated in  this  work,  let  him  compare  the  arguments  adduced 
by  Hooker  and  Warburton,  by  Chalmers  and  M'Neile,  by 
Gladstone  and  Birks,  on  the  one  side,  with  those  advanced 
by  Dick  and  Graham,  by  Ballantyne  and  Conder,  by 
Wardlaw,  Vinet,  and  Gasparin,  on  the  other.  Let  him 
study  the  history  of  the  Free  Churches  of  Scotland  and 
of  Vaud.  Let  him  attentively  observe  the  phearomena  of 
State  churches  in  Scotland,  in  Switzerland,  and  in  France. 
Let  him  examine,  as  they  are  developed  by  Mr.  Baird,  the 
grand  results  of  spiritual  hberty  in  the  United  States.  And 
then  let  him  determine  his  conduct,  without  regard  to  in- 
terest, fashion,  or  friendship,  in  loyalty  to  Christ,  and  as 
accountable  to  the  heart-searching  God. 

Since  many  will  hold  back  from  even  an  examination 
of  truths  which  entail  momentous  consequences  to  them- 
selves, each  disciple  of  Christ,  who  ascertains  the  separation 
of  the  churches  from  the  State  to  be  liis  Master's  will, 
must  count  it  an  honor  to  serve  him  singly,  if  need  be,  in 
this  conflict.  Great  events  in  history  have  waited  on  the 
actions  of  a  few  intrepid  men.  Hampden,  by  his  resolute 
resistance  to  an  act  of  tyranny,  awoke  in  his  countrymen 
the  spirit  which  secured  our  liberties.  The  gallantry  of 
Clive  saved  our  Indian  empire.  Luther  long  thought  and 
labored  almost  alone.  The  extensive  revival  of  the  last 
century  was  owing,  under  God,  to  Wesley  and  Whitefield, 


442  CONCLUSION. 

with  very  few  companions  Let  each  member  of  the  Es- 
tabhshment,  therefore,  who  comprehends  this  duty,  deter- 
mine that  he  will,  without  waiting  for  the  decision  of 
others,  do  his  utmost,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  to  secure  the 
freedom  of  the  Anglican  Churches  from  the  shackles  of  the 
State. 

Members  of  congregations,  who  already  maintain  your 
ministers  in  connection  with  the  union,  by  which  your  own 
functions  are  abandoned  and  your  ministers  fettered,  release 
them,  and  recover  your  own  sacred  rights,  by  declaring 
that  you  will  be  free.  A  few  such  instances  in  London, 
Manchester,  Liverpool,  Leeds,  and  Birmingham,  would 
awaken  the  whole  nation  to  their  duty. 

With  greater  confidence  I  address  my  brethren  of  the 
free  churches.  There  should  be  no  longer  disunion  or 
sloth.  Independents  and  Baptists,  Wesleyans  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  let  us  all,  with  united 
voices,  from  Caithness  to  Cornwall,  claim,  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  the  Christian  liberty  of  the  British  Churches  ;  and 
this  generation  may  yet  see  accomplished  a  second  Reform- 
ation more  spiritual,  and  not  less  extensive,  than  the  first. 

Above  all,  let  us  take  care  to  fulfill  this  duty  in  a  Chris- 
tian spirit.  No  religious  cause  requires  irreligious  means 
for  its  advancement.  Let  us  disgrace  ourselves  by  no  rail- 
ing, condemn  all  personal  invective,  and  be  guilty  of  no 
exaggeration,  for  these  are  the  weapons  of  the  weak  and 
the  unprincipled  ;  but,  uniting  with  all  those  who  love  the 
Redeemer,  let  iis  recognize  with  gratitude  every  work  of 
the  Spirit  within  the  Establishment  as  well  as  without  it. 
And  with  much  prayer,  Math  constant  dependence  on  the 
Holy  Spirit,  with  a  supreme  desire  to  glorify  God,  and  with 
an  abundant  exercise  of  faith,  hope,  and  love,  which  are 
our  appropriate  armor  in  every  conflict,  let  us  persevere  in 
our  efforts  till  the  blessing  of  God  renders  our  triumph  a 
decisive  step  toward  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 


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